Gods of destruction
by ganto
Summary: Commander Shepard and his allies are undergoing an unequal fight against the ancient evil threatening the galaxy. However, he has to deal with another dangerous enemy: his own past. *follows events of ME1; M-rating for language and violence*
1. Prologue

_Prologue_

"Well, what about Shepard? According to his files he grew up in the colonies."

"That is correct, Ambassador. He knows, how tough can the live be out there. His parents died, when slavers raided the colony on Mindoir."

"He took part in the mission on Akuze. His unit got ambushed by the Thresher maws. He was the only one of fifty men who survived this massacre."

"There is a high probability he may have serious emotional scars."

"Just a few people would be able to go through like something like Akuze and stay sane afterward. The fact he did survive proves his extraordinary skills and will to live."

"Sure, but what about his…incident with a high-ranked officer? A soldier should be able to keep his emotions in check, but Shepard nearly beat that man to death! That is a serious disciplinary offense; he would end up being discharged from the Alliance military!"

"Well, major Waleton had a weird knack for enraging other people. I do not support his actions, but when we think of major´s temper, Shepard might have had a serious reason to attack him."

"With all due to respect, Admiral, Shepard´s disciplinary offenses are not important right now. He is the only man with the skills we need."

"Are you sure, Captain, that this is the kind of person we want to protect the galaxy?"

"More than just sure, Ambassador. He is the only kind of person who can protect the galaxy."

"Acknowledged. I will make the call…"

* * *

_Personal dossier_

_Name: Shepard, Elias_

_Date of birth 4__th __November, 2154_

_Origin Colonist (Mindoir)_

_Parents Father – Liam Shepard; engineer, served in the Alliance military for 8 years_

_ Mother – Sarah Shepard (Myles); medical doctor, studied at university_

_One of the few survivors of the raid on Mindoir in 2170_

_Enlisted in the Alliance military in 2172, later equipped with biotic L3 implants due to confirmed biotic abilities probably caused by direct exposure to the element zero_

_In 2177, his platoon was tasked with investigation of missing colonist on Akuze. The unit was attacked by creatures known as Thresher maws. Shepard was badly wounded, the rest of the unit, including his CO, were killed or went MIA_

_In 2182, Shepard was court-martialed for attacking superior officer and sentenced to the imprisonment for 3 years_

* * *

_Well, this is it._

_This is an english translation of my story I published earlier. I got a suggestion from one rewiever to translate it to english, so I decided to try. Honestly, I don´t think I´ll be able to avoid mistakes, so let me know if you find some (and I´d appreciate any help with correcting those mistakes, if you don´t mind :-)_

_I should mention that original (czech) version is still in progress, so I´d like to apologize in advance for long delays between chapters (Once I´m finished, it´ll get better I promise ;-)_

_Also, some formalities: Story is M-rated due to strong language and violence (and later some romance bits); I don´t own Mass Effect, Bioware does_


	2. Free again

_Armstrong fortress, Luna, Solar system, 2183_

It seemed like another long ordinary day in the jail.

The prison facility was heavily guarded and equipped with state-of-the-art security systems. There could not happen anything that would disrupt a routine day order. The most of the cells were empty and there were just a few convicts. Most of them were doing some labor like regular cleanup and duties in a prison mess hall. The rest of the prisoners were either sleeping or staring at the cold walls of their cells without any words.

It was an unusual silence in the jail. Sometimes there could have been heard muffled voices of guards chatting with each other, tinny sound of doors being slammed shut, or occasional cursing, but that was about all. The place seemed abandoned like some ancient tomb.

The prisoners, who were serving their sentences here, were not too troublesome. Even if there was some individual bold enough to try to escape, his chances would be low. Armstrong fortress was an underground base dug deep under the Luna´s surface and it was heavily guarded. Even if potential fugitive did manage to escape the jail, he would have to go through the whole base to the shuttle bay and hope that no one would catch him. However, ships did not land on Armstrong very often, and when they did, they were usually watched by dozens of guards. All these precautions meant that any attempt to get out of the prison and off Armstrong would be foolish, to put it mildly.

No one of the prisoners did care about it, though. They noticed that something was strange on the behavior of the guards, like they were expecting something important to happen. Their suspicion was confirmed, when they saw the commander of the jail going to the main entrance, where the guards were already lined up. Someone arrived, and that person had to be someone more important than some new convict, if his arrival caused such a stir.

Door opened. One of the guards barked an order and everyone stood in attention. Some man, wearing an Alliance uniform, entered the jail. He was about fifty years old and he was obviously Captain, according to the badges on his uniform. The commander walked up to him and saluted, the Captain answered him the same way. Those two men talked to each other for a while. Then the commander gestured to the secured prison block and both commander and captain headed there, accompanied by guards.

Now it became much clearer, what was going on. Everyone here knew about the only prisoner, who was placed in secured prison block at the time, but just a few of them saw him with their own eyes. He was a strong biotic, so it was impossible to place him into an ordinary cell without dampening his abilities. Aside from that, he was rather solitary type and he rarely talked to someone.

Even though he rather avoided everyone, the others knew about his past and even what he was in for. They said he was sent to the prison for attacking and nearly killing a superior officer. There were also rumors he was the only survivor of the Akuze massacre. But it was his origin, what scared the people around him even more. Everyone knew, what happened on Mindoir eleven years ago. Some of the prisoners were saying all the time that man was cursed and that everyone around him was sentenced to death.

His name was Elias Shepard.

* * *

Shepard slowly opened his eyes and sat on his hard bunk. This was one of the nights he slept without any nightmares. It was strange, but during the time he spent here, there were more and more of these calm nights. When he was spending most of his time closed among those four walls of his cell, he has quite a lot of time for himself, usually deeply in thoughts. It helped him to deal with his own secret demons.

Shepard suffered from nightmares ever since Mindoir. What he saw there shocked him so much that for the next several months he was psychically ruined. His parents, friends and everything he loved were destroyed by the attack of batarian slavers. These four-eyed barbarians were worse than anything he saw earlier. With incredible brutality they ran from house to house and killed everyone who dared to defend himself. They locked the rest of the colonist in the cages like some animals and after they robbed the last house they vanished as quickly as they appeared. Sometimes they killed helpless captives out of the pure hatred towards humans.

It was the day Shepard lost everything, the day he killed someone for a first time: one of the batarians, who killed his family and searched the ruins of his home for valuables. Even now he felt his rage, rage that caused him to throw himself on the batarian a stabbed him to death with a knife. In the end he was saved, along with some other survivors, by the crew of an Alliance cruiser, which patrolled in the local system and received the distress call.

When Shepard pulled himself together after this experience, he decided to enlist in the Alliance military. He had nowhere to go, and he also wanted to fight for a good cause, he did not want anyone to go through something like he did. However, he learned the tough lesson in a boot camp: shouting of instructors, drill, insults, humiliation. Biotic training was another story. Shepard knew something about using biotics, but sometimes the boot camp seemed like a walk in a park to him, compared to this. But he faired surprisingly well during the training and in the end he ended up in N7 Special troops. During the first five years of service he found himself some good friends, who were something like a new family to him, and he started a promising career. But suddenly he lost everything…again.

In 2172 he and his platoon were sent to the colony on Akuze, which suddenly went silent. Their mission was to search for the missing colonist. After the first day of investigation they set up a temporary base. Shepard remembered that day too well. He was going to sleep for a few hours, when the ground started to shake wildly. He ran out of tent just when three worm-like creatures emerged from the ground and started to rip the base apart. Apart from two Mako IFVs, the marines had no heavy weapons and those monsters seemed invincible. Human soldiers never stood a chance against abominations with sharp teeth, which also spit acid, and they were killed one by one. After a quarter an hour, only fifteen men left from fifty, including Shepard, decided to fall back and sent a distress call to a nearest ship. But right in the nest of the Thresher maws, as they were called later, they had no chance of survival. Those monsters never intended to let marines escape.

When the shuttle with a rescue team arrived, it was already too late. Dozens of dead bodies were lying around as well as pieces of destroyed equipment. Shepard was the only one still alive, with something looking like a giant tooth stuck in his chest. He nearly bled out before rescuers managed to get him to the nearest hospital. Even with his poor chances, doctors saved his life with a quick surgery. But after the Akuze, he was never the same person. Even though he recovered from his injuries and got back to active duty, the image of his friends lying around ripped to shreds still scared him in his dreams.

And, after all of this, he ended up here, as a prisoner in Armstrong fortress on Luna. Shepard lied down on his bunk and remembered how he got here. He knew he should not let his emotions to cloud his judgment, but he never felt any regret for beating up major Waleton. His memories of that incident started to appear almost immediately:

_Shepard walked during his free time on the board of cruiser SSV Edinburgh, deeply in thoughts. He did not notice major Waleton, who just walked out of the corridor on his right. Both men bumped into each other._

"_Damn it, are you blind or just…" man froze for a moment and then grinned, when he recognized the young officer he just met. "Well well, lieutenant Shepard."_

_Shepard straightened up and saluted. For some odd reason he found the other officer unsympathetic. "Sir."_

_Major took a long dismissive look at him. "Of course, I know a lot about you…and your accident on Akuze, as well." He went on when Shepard did not answer. "It was very unfortunate that your entire unit died there. I have read the reports of the mission, but I would like someone with a personal experience to tell me about it."_

_Young officer cleared his throat and spoke "Sir, we didn´t have any idea what we were facing. It was supposed to be a recon mission so we didn´t have almost any heavy weapons on us. Five men, my CO included, died before we even realized that we were under attack. As his XO I took over the command…"_

"_So you took over the command." Major interrupted him with a snide smile. "I´d say that explains a lot."_

_Shepard just stared at him in disbelief. "What do you mean, sir?" He asked, clearly confused._

_Major´s face expression changed; now he scowled. "Don´t jerk me around, you know exactly what I´m talking about, lieutenant. You just let your unit get killed by some dumbass monsters. You utterly failed as a commander and I do not tolerate failure. Your hands are stained by the blood of your own people and you dare to behave like nothing happened at all?" Shepard wanted to say something but major did not let him. "You know, Shepard, you tend to miraculously survive while everyone around you is dying…like on Mindoir, for instance." Shepard tried very hard to remain calm, but major´s comment shocked him. How could he say such a thing at all?_

_Major noticed his comment had a desired effect, he would swear on his own death lieutenant visibly trembled when Mindoir was mentioned. He really enjoyed this and decided to go even further. "You remember Mindoir? Hundreds of people either dead or taken I don´t even know where. And you contributed with your inaction, together with others who just hid instead of doing something. And you even have the stomach to enlist in the Alliance military after all this! I don´t know what you think about it but in my opinion it´s nothing but a ridicule!"_

_Shepard´s face went red. Major did not know if it was a shame, or anger, in fact he really did not care. He went up to the young lieutenant and stood just a few feet apart from him. "You, Shepard, are nothing but an incompetent coward. You proved that on Akuze, and five years earlier on Mindoir. In many ways you are similar to your father and I would bet my rank on it he would be very proud of you-"_

_Major was not able to finish the sentence, when Shepard´s fist sent him falling on the ground. He picked him up then and slammed him to the wall. "You don´t get to talk about my father like that, you asshole, he was a way much better man than any of the bastards like you! You don´t have a right to judge me! You weren´t there, motherfucker, you don´t know a shit about what I had to go through!" He yelled at him. He punched him several times before two other officers saw the incident and tore him off of Waleton. Major fell unconscious and slumped to the floor._

"_When we meet again, I swear I´ll kill you, fucker!" Shepard yelled, while the two officers were taking him away. "I´LL KILL YOU!"_

* * *

"Elias Shepard, you got a visitor." Voice of the guardian interrupted Shepard from thinking; he turned to the door of his cell. He saw an older man in a uniform accompanied by two guards. The stranger gestured them to stay outside and entered the cell. Shepard recognized that man almost instantly, even though he never met him in person.

It was Captain David Anderson, one of the first members of N7. Shepard stood up immediately and saluted. "Sir."

"You don´t have to salute me, Lieutenant Shepard. Not when you are off duty." The convict was surprised. Nobody addressed him by name and rank during the time in jail. "I´ve come to talk to you about certain matter."

Shepard thought for a while and answered. "With all due to respect, sir, if you are here to talk about that thing I´m in for, then you are wasting your time. That idiot spat on the name of mine and my father´s. He got what he deserved and I don´t regret a goddamn thing."

Captain was slightly amused by that honest response. "I understand that. By the way, I knew a few people who thought him a real pain in the butt, but you were the first to punch him." He was silent for a moment. "However, that´s not why I´m here."

"So why are you here?"

"I was put in charge of a very important mission and I could use you assistance."

"What is this about?"

"I´m afraid I can´t go into too much detail, Shepard. Not here and not now. But I can say that the result of the mission would have a great influence for the future of not only the Alliance, but also the Council Races."

"I understand what you mean, sir. But why me? There is a lot of other…"

"We considered many candidates for this operation and the Admiralty board agreed on you as the right choice for this job." Anderson leaned slightly to Shepard and whispered "And they didn´t have any objections, you know, because of your escapade with Waleton."

"Well, if they don´t mind, then okay, captain. Count me in."

"Excellent, lieutenant. So pack up whatever stuff you have here and let´s go."

Shepard froze and stared surprised at Captain, who did his best not to laugh when he saw his face expression. "Do you have any more questions?" He asked with amusement.

Shepard started to stutter. "Well, yes…er, no sir…I mean, I was supposed to stay here for another two years. And all of a sudden, an officer shows up here and tells me 'you´re free to go, man'. I´m just surprised…very much, sir. That´s all."

"Don´t worry Shepard, we didn´t have to do anything illegal to get you out of here. When we´re out of here, I´ll tell you what you need to know. Now take your stuff and come with me."

Shepard got up from the bunk and put his thing in a bag. Then he shook hands with Anderson and both men left the cell.

The prisoners watched as the visitor, accompanied by guards, was taking Shepard away. Recently released convict greeted his former fellow prisoners with a nod of his head and then he left the jail with Captain.


	3. A new mission

_Arcturus station, Arcturus system, Arcturus Stream cluster_

The shuttle decelerated sharply to a slower-than-light speed and into view came a familiar annular construction, surrounded by numerous starships.

_So here we are, Arcturus station_. Shepard could not remember the last time he stood on this giant rotating mass of steel and titan. Arcturus was a military and political center of the Alliance. There were located central headquarters, military academy and shipyards. It was the place, where Shepard spent one and half a year before he enlisted in the military.

After several hours of flight, shuttle finally docked with the station and both passengers got off the ship.

During the journey to Arcturus, Anderson told Shepard some basic information about their next mission. Their main objective was to secure some important cargo on the colony somewhere in the Exodus cluster, which would have a serious impact on the future of both Alliance and Council Races. Shepard still did not understand why did the Council request help from humans. Humanity did not have a very good reputation among other species, especially because the way they entered the galactic community. The wounds from a short, but furious war with turians were still not fully healed. However, Shepard´s bussiness was not to question the motives of the Council, he had some other job to do. Among other things, he learned that he would be Anderson´s XO on his ship docked nearby.

"Where are we going, Captain?" He asked Anderson, while they went through the large spaces of the station.

"We have to resupply before we head out. My ship is docked just a few blocks further. Aside from that, there are a few people who would like to talk to you."

Shepard was thinking who would like to talk to him of all people, when some officer stopped these two men. He looked like he was about seventy years old, he had grey hair and a small scar on the right cheek. But it were insignias of admiral, what got Shepard´s attention.

"Lieutenant Shepard, I was hoping I could speak with you." Said the officer and saluted.

Shepard saluted back and became nervous almost instantly, he recognized the man, who just adressed him. "Admiral Hackett, sir."

"I assume Captain Anderson informed you about your mission, didn´t he?"

"I know the basic facts and importance of the mission, sir."

"Glad to hear it. There are some other things you should know about, Shepard." The three men headed to the block where Captain´s ship was docked.

"So," Admiral Hackett continued. "First of all, this mission isn´t just about retrieving some important package. You surely know, what do the nonhuman races think about us, especially the turians. We tried to improve our relationship with the Council Races for a long time. Our efforts finally began to bear its fruit and we would like to convince the Council that the cooperation **is** possible. And believe me, it would be beneficial for both sides."

"If it´s all just politics, is that package we have to recover important at all or it is just some cover up or something?" Shepard asked doubtfully.

"Anderson was right about this one, lieutenant, even though I can´t tell you now how exactly is that thing important. You´ll find the answers for your questions once you retrieve it." Admiral answered.

Meanwhile they came to their destination. Shepard looked around the dock and then he saw Captain´s ship. It was not like anything he saw before in the Alliance fleet. The ship had the size of a frigate, but it was different from common angular Alliance ships. This one had elegant round shapes and it did not look like it was built by humans. On its side could be seen a sign: _SR1 Normandy_.

"Looks beautiful, eh?" Said Anderson as he walked up to Shepard.

"It doesn´t look like any ship I´ve ever seen, sir. I must´ve lost track of a modern technology during my time in a jail."

"It´s a prototype, the only one of its class, for now. This ship is a result of a joint project of human and turian engineers. It´s a first warship in the Aliance equipped with stealth systems, making it invisible for sensors. " Anderson smiled. "It´s the best ship in the Alliance and I´m the one honored to be her first Commanding Officer."

Shepard and Anderson enjoyed the sight of Normandy for a while, before Admiral Hackett adressed them again. "Gentlemen, come with me, it´s the time to introduce a new companion to you." Both men turned to Admiral and noticed a tall turian standing behind him. He wore a red-and-gray armor and had white markings on his black face.

Turian extended his mandibles in a grimace resembling a human smile and introduced himself. "Nihlus Kryik, Agent of Special Tactics and Reconaissance branch of the Citadel."

This was way too suspicious. Shepard had a feeling, particularly due to Anderson keeping details for himself, there was more to it on this mission. The presence of a Council agent only confirmed that. Agents of Special tactics and reconaissance were an elite group of the Council, the best of the best, entrusted to protect the safety and interests of Citadel Races by any means necessary. That meant they were above all laws in existence. It wasn´t the only reason the Council agents were called The Spectres. Facing one of them was pretty much like staring Death right at the face.

Admiral cleared his throat and continued. "In the interest of cooperation, the Council insisted on sending one of their agents to accompany you on your mission. Agent Kryik will assist you during the mission and he will be sending regular reports to the Council."

Nihlus stepped forward and shook hands with Captain. "I´ll be honored to participate in this mission with you, Captain Anderson."

Anderson nodded respectfully and turned to Shepard. "I think it´s time to head out, let´s get on board." Admiral walked up to them, shook hands and said "Good luck." before he left to get back to his duties. Group of two humans and a turian just stood for a moment and then went aboard the Normandy.

* * *

_SSV Normandy, en route to Arcturus relay_

"Thirty minutes to the contact with the mass relay."

Shepard was just putting on a grey Type Onyx armor, when the ship´s pilot spook through the intercom. Just a few minutes ago, he finally learned the Normandy´s destination: Eden Prime, one of the oldest and most successful human colonies. Shepard thought about what could be possibly hidden there, of all places, if it was so important according to Anderson. He did not like the Captain´s vagueness about the mission but he never intended to argue with him about it, not after he hauled him out of the prison. For Shepard, it was much better this way.

While he was settling in on the Normandy, Shepard had an opportunity to speak with some of the crewmen. He already met ship´s helmsman, when he first came on board, Jeff Moreau, although everyone else was used to calling him Joker. It was hard to mistake him with someone else, especially due to his beard and a cap he never took off his head. Speaking of his abilities, no one really complained about the way Joker handled the Normandy. However, the helmsman was never too big on formalities and his cynism and strange sense of humor were sometimes very annoying.

There was also lieutenant Kaidan Alenko. He had the same rank as Shepard, although he served longer than him. As a teenager, he participated in a BAat training program, until it was not shut down from mysterious reasons. Lieutenant Alenko was a very strong biotic and one of the first being fitted with the L2 implants. Shepard heard about the horrific side effects of L2´s and he was surprised it took so long for Alliance scientists to figure out how dangerous those implants were. They could cause insanity, paralysis or even growth of tumours, Alenko was lucky, though. He suffered only from migraines and oversensitivity to noise and bright light.

While Shepard walked aboard the Normandy to see the inside of the ship, he met also navigator Pressly, doctor Chakwas, engineer Adams and corporal Jenkins. The young corporal was a friend of Kaidan and his enthuiasm to serve reminded Shepard of his own start in the Alliance military. The other crewmembers just minded their own business. They had a great respect for Captain Anderson, but they were not entirely comfortable with Shepard being on board. He could not blame them, he was aware that things tend to go terribly wrong around him. The only unknown factor here was Nihlus. He appeared only when he needed to speak with the Captain and then he just vanished. Shepard had a strange feeling that Nihlus kept something a secret, but he was willing to trust him. For now.

When he fastened the last piece of his armor, he started to maintain his weapons. As a member of special troops, he was trained to be able to use every weapon he ever saw, yet he never learnt to handle a sniper rifle, so he stuck with an assault rifle and a shotgun. In a few minutes, both weapons were completely cleaned. Shepard was going to take care of his pistol, when a helmsman´s voice interrupted him again.

"XO Shepard and agent Kryik report to the bridge ASAP."

Shepard folded his weapons immediately and placed them in slots on his armor. Then he headed to the bridge.

"Arcturus relay is at range, initiating transmition sequence."

The command deck was busy. Crewmen moved around the central console with a projection of a galaxy map. Shepard slipped through them and continued to the bridge.

"We are connected. Calculating transit mass and destination…Relay is hot, acquiring approach vector. All stations secured for transit."

Nihlus was already on the bridge and stood behind helmsman, who flew the ship towards the mass relay. The Spectre noticed Shepard, who just got to the bridge, and nodded silently. Lieutenant Alenko was in the co-pilot seat and checked ship´s systems.

"Board is green. Approach run has begun."

The mass relay filled the view from the ship. Normandy started accelerating towards the enormous, bright blue glowing object. The ship approached the relay in a few seconds.

"Hitting relay in five…four…three…two…one."

Shepard felt a brief dizziness, when energy from the relay hit the Normandy. The ship accelerated to a FTL speed and left the star system.

* * *

_SSV Normandy, the edge of the Utopia system, Exodus cluster_

The storm of blurry streaks behind windows on the bridge turned to a black background, marked with stars. The Normandy decelerated and appeared in the Utopia system.

"Thrusters…check, navigation…check. Internal emission sink engaged. All systems online. Drift…just under 1500K." Pilot reported with satisfaction. Shepard smiled a bit. Joker loved this job, no wonder he was one of the most experienced helmsmen in the Alliance.

"1500 is good. Your captain will be pleased." Said Nihlus and left.

When he was gone, Joker sighed. "Man, I hate that guy."

Kaidan turned to Joker and said incredulously. "Nihlus gave you a compliment, so you hate him?"

"You remember to zip up your jumpsuit on the way out of the bathroom, that´s good. I just jumped us halfway across the galaxy and hit a target the size of a pinhead, so THAT´s incredible." Replied Joker and shook his head. "Besides, Spectres are trouble. I don´t like having him on board. Call me paranoid."

Kaidan rolled his eyes. "You´re paranoid. The Council helped us fund this project so they have a right to send someone to keep an eye on their investment, don´t you think?" He said.

"Yeah, that´s the official story." Quipped Joker. "But only an idiot believes an official story."

"You always expect the worst, lieutenant." Said Shepard.

"Just trusting my instincts. We don´t go anywhere unless there´s a good reason, so…what are we doing here?"

Anderson spook through the comm. "Joker! Status report."

"Just cleared the mass relay, Captain. Stealth systems engaged, everything looks solid." Joker reported.

"Good. Find a comm buoy and link us to the network. I want a mission report relayed back to the Alliance brass before we reach Eden Prime." Ordered Captain.

"Aye aye, Captain. You better brace yourself, I think Nihlus is headed your way."

"He´s already here, lieutenant." There was a hint of irritation in Captain´s voice. Joker rolled his eyes, while Alenko and Shepard looked at him and shook their heads in disapproval.

"Tell Commander Shepard to meet me in a comm room for a debriefing."

"Yes sir." Joker turned to Shepard. "You get that, Commander?"

"On my way." Shepard turned and walked towards the comm romm. "Great. He pisses the Captain off and I´m gonna pay for it. Idiot." He mumbled to himself, clearly annoyed with helmsman´s attitude.

"Pff…Don´t blame me, Commander. The Captain´s always in a bad mood." _How could he possibly hear me?_ Thought Commander.

"Yeah yeah, only when he´s talking to you, Joker." Sneered Kaidan.

Shepard decided not to say anything and he went to the comm room. When he passed the navigation console, he heard navigator Pressly talking to engineer Adams through the intercom. Pressly was concerned about Nihlus´ presence on the Normandy and he was not quiet about it. Shepard went on and saw Jenkins chatting with doctor Chakwas.

"I grew up on Eden Prime, doc. It´s not a kind of place Spectres visit. There´s something Nihlus isn´t telling us about this mission."

"This is crazy! The Captain´s in charge, he wouldn´t take orders from a Spectre."

Jenkins noticed Shepard passing by and saluted. "What do you think, Commander, we won´t be staying on Eden Prime too long, will we? I´m itching for some real action!"

Doctor looked at young marine with an amused expression on her face. "I sincerely hope you´re kidding, Corporal. Your 'real action' usually ends with me patching up crew members in the infirmary."

Shepard smirked. He liked the marine´s enthusiasm, but on the other hand, he was not going to let his recklessness to get him killed. "You have to calm down, corporal. A good soldier stays cool, even under fire."

„Easy for you to say, Commander. You proved yourself on Akuze, everyone knows what you can do. This is my big chance, I need to show the brass what I can do!"

Shepard felt his gut tightened when Jenkins mentioned Akuze. He was able to deal with his past somehow while he was in prison. The memories were not as painful as before, but they were still alive. Shepard shook his head and took a good long look at Jenkins. „Corporal, you´re young and you have a long career ahead of you, don´t do anything stupid to mess it up!"

„Aye aye, sir. I´m not gonna screw this up."

Satisfied with corporal´s reply, Shepard decided to change topic. „You´re from Eden Prime, aren´t you, Jenkins? What´s it like?"

„It´s very peaceful, Commander. They´ve been careful with the development, so you don´t see any city noise or pollution. My parents lived on the outskirst of the colony. At night, I used to climb this big hill and stared across the field back at the lights from the main settlement. It was gorgeous. But when I got older, I realized it was a little too calm and quiet for me. That´s why I joined the Alliance. Even a paradise gets boring after a while."

„Any idea why Eden Prime was chosen as our destination?"

„I don´t know, Commander. Eden Prime is one of our most stable colonies, a good place to take the Normandy for a shakedown run, no real danger there. But there´s gotta be something else going on. We´ve got a Spectre on board, that´s why I´m so wound up, I can´t wait for a real mission to start!"

Shepard agreed with Jenkins on that. Suddenly he remebered the Captain wanted to speak with him and he said "I should go, the Captain wanted to speak with me." He quickly entered the comm room and tried to come up with a good excuse for being late, but when he looked around the room, the Captain was not there. He was going to leave when he noticed Nihlus standing in the far corner.

"Commander Shepard, I was hoping you´d get here first. It´d give us a chance to talk." The hefty turian walked up to Shepard and stopped right in the middle of the comm room.

"What about?"

"I´m interested in this world we´re going to, Eden Prime." Nihlus started pacing the room. "I´ve heard it´s quite beautiful."

"I´ve never been there." Shepard admitted. "But lots fo people say it´s a paradise."

"Yes…a paradise." Thought the Spectre. "Serene, tranquil, safe. It has become something of a symbol for your people, hasn´t it? The proof that the humanity is able not only to establish colonies throughout the galaxy, but also to protect them. But how safe is it really?"

Shepard scowled and took a few steps towards Nihlus. "If you´ve got something to say, just say it." He said sharply, more sharply than he intended.

"You humans are still the newcomers, Shepard. The galaxy caan be a very dangerous place." Nihlus stopped pacing and folded his arms over his chest. "Is the Alliance truly ready for this?"

Doors opened as Captain Anderson entered the comm room. "I think it´s time we told the Commander what´s really going on."

"This mission is far more than a simple shakedown run or picking up a package." Added Nihlus.

Shepard smiled as he said. "I´ve already figured that out. Trust me, I´m not as stupid as I look." The Spectre grinned at Commander´s response. _That human really knows more than he lets on._

"That cargo I told you about during our travel to Arcturus, is some kind of beacon our scientists discovered during the excavations. More importantly, the beacon is of a prothean origin."

Commander remembered instantly what he learnt back at school. The protheans were an ancient spacefaring race which spanned across the whole galaxy. The protheans developed and mastered a highly advanced technology and built the network of mass relays for a quick travelling across the galaxy. The Citadel, a huge space station and a seat of the Council, was also their work. The protheans mysteriously vanished about 50 000 years ago and the Citadel, mass relays and ruins on hundreds of their former colonies were all what was left of them. No one managed to figure out what happened to them so far. Shepard stopped thinking and asked. "What else can you tell me?"

"This is big, Shepard." Continued Anderson. "The last time we made a discovery like this, it jumped our technology about two hundred years forward. But Eden Prime doesn´t have facilities to handle something like this. That´s why we need to bring that beacon back to the Citadel."

"Obviously this goes beyond mere human interests, Commander. This discovery would affect every species in the galaxy." Added NIhlus.

"I get that. But it was a human colony where that thing was found, so it would be logical if that beacon was studied by scientists on Earth, don´t you think?" Asked Shepard and tried to remember the last time the Council did something good for humanity. He knew that the galactic community was somehow sceptical about humanity, although the Alliance tried hard to have good relations with the Council.

"People on the Citadel know a lot more about protheans than we do. Besides, if we share that beacon, our relations with the Council will significantly improve." Captain explained.

"Captain has a point, Commander. You humans don´t have the best reputation, and this is a good opportunity to correct that." Nihlus started pacing the room again. "But enough about the beacon. It´s not the only reason I´m here."

"Nihlus wants to see you in action, Commander. He´s here to evaluate you." Shepard was utterly confused by Captain´s statement. He had enough of not knowing what was going on. It was time to get some answers.

"I don´t want to be rude, Captain, but I have enough of everyone not telling me what´s this all about. Why is Nihlus really here?" Shepard asked, not bothering to mask his anger.

"The Alliance has been pushing this for a long time. Humanity wants a larger role in shaping interstellar policy, we want more say with the Council." Anderson slammed his fit into his palm to emphasize his words. "Spectres represent the Council´s power and authority. If they accept a human into their ranks, it shows how far the Alliance has come."

"I went through all records of Akuze." Spook Nihlus. "You managed to survive in a situation which would be lethal for most people, that is a particularly useful talent. That´s why I put your name forward as a candidate for the Spectres."

Shepard scowled. It was all about politics and he resented politics as a dirty bussiness. "I understand the Alliance´s intention, sir, but it should be me who decides about my future, am I right?" He asked grumpily.

"It´s not just you, Shepard. Humanity needs this, and we´re counting on you." Captain answered.

Shepard turned to Nihlus. "It´s kinda funny that a turian would want a human in the Spectres."

"It´s not true that all turians resent humanity. Some of us see the potential of your species." Explained the Spectre. "We´re an elite group and it´s hard to find an individual with the skills we seek. Frankly, I don´t care that you´re a human, Shepard. I only care that you can do the job, and Eden Prime will be the first of our several missions together."

Anderson spook again. "You´ll be in charge of the ground team. Your objective is to secure the beacon and get it on the ship ASAP. Nihlus will accompany you to observe the mission."

Commander nodded. "I´m ready, just give the word, sir." Nihlus took a good look at Shepard. He knew from the beginning that human would be a real asset to the Spectres.

Anderson was going to add something but he was stopped when helmsman´s tense voice echoed through the comm. "Captain, we´ve got a problem down on Eden Prime, you better see this for yourself!"

"Bring it up on screen, Joker!" Ordered Anderson. The holographic projection showed a battle raging on the planet´s surface. About a dozen marines defended themselves against the unknown enemy. One of the soldiers jumped into cover a yelled in the transmitter. "We´re under attack and taking heavy casualties, I repeat heavy casualties! We can´t…" Something exploded nearby. "…need evac! They came out of nowhere, we need-" He went silent when a bullet impacted on his forehead and killed him instantly. There was a deafening noise and some of the soldiers froze. The camera turned to something that looked like a squid, but it was a ship, huge one, larger than any known vessel. It was landing on the planet and its hull was covered in crimson lightning. The image suddenly fell into thousands of pieces as the screen began to display nothing but granulation.

"Everything cuts out after that, no comm traffic at all." Stated Joker. "Just goes dead, there´s nothing."

"Reverse and hold on 38.5." Said Captain. The screen showed again the mysterious vessel. The three men stared wordlessly at the object for a while. "Commander, tell Alenko and Jenkins to suit up and wait in the cargo hold." Anderson said finally and then mumbled to himself." This mission just got a lot more complicated."

Nihlus narrowed his eyes and said "A small strike team can move quickly without drawing attention. It might be our best chance to secure that beacon."

Shepard looked at the eerie ship once more and then turned to Nihlus. "We´ll meet in the cargo hold in three minutes." The Spectre nodded and both soldiers ran out from the comm room.

Anderson stood there just a moment before he followed them.

* * *

_This chapter took less time to translate than I expected :-) However, I won´t be able to update as quick as this time, but I´ll do what I can. Next chapter - Eden Prime_


	4. Eden Prime

_Eden Prime, Utopia system, Exodus cluster_

Shepard, Nihlus and Captain Anderson ran out of the com room. The whole crew knew something went horribly wrong down on the colony and stood ready on their posts. Anderson took a few steps to the galactic map and barked "Joker! Status report!"

"We´re there in seventeen minutes Captain. There are no other Alliance ships in this system." Helmsman reported through the intercom.

"Take us in, Joker, fast and quiet. Whatever happens down there, I don´t want to attract any attention to us."

"Roger that, sir."

Meanwhile, Shepard and Nihlus ran down to the crew deck. Commander entered the mess hall, where a few soldiers sat already, and yelled "Lieutenant Alenko and Corporal Jenkins: grab your gear and report in the cargo hold in three minutes!"

Both soldiers got up with a nod and ran to their gear lockers. Commander and the Spectre entered the elevator and rode down to the cargo hold, which was almost empty at the time. Few crates with weapons and a Mako IFV was everything what was there. Nihlus stepped to the case lying next to the IFV and took his own weapons out of it. If he was worried about this mission, he did not let anything on and he checked his weapons methodically.

Shepard leaned on the pillar, which was the part of the opening mechanism of the cargo hold door, and tried to calm down. He did not have any idea who would dare to attack the Eden Prime. It was true this colony was located on the borders with the Terminus systems, but it was not attacked since its establishment. For a moment, he thought that someone might be interested in that prothean beacon. Shepard dismissed that thought immediately, because he was told about it just before the arrival to the Eden Prime. He doubted that the Alliance would just tell everyone about a discovery like this.

"You nervous?" Nihlus´ voice interrupted Commander´s thoughts.

"No, I just…" Shepard swallowed the lump in his throat and continued speaking. "The objective of this mission was supposed to be a quick pick up of our package and getting out of here. Since we got in this system, everything went to hell during just a few minutes, and the worse thing is that we don´t even know what will we find down there."

Nihlus looked at him. "Trust me, commander, I don´t like it either, but this mission is just too important for us to get swayed by our own doubts."

Commander sighed. "I know, Nihlus. I just hate not knowing what I´m up against. During my time in a military, something like that happened to me once, and that was why everything went FUBAR."

The Spectre understood what was the human lieutenant talking about and nodded slowly. "I see, Commander. It´s because of Akuze, for soldiers under your command died there." Nihlus went to Commander and laid a hand on his shoulder in a friendly gesture. "It wasn´t your fault Shepard. It was the first time you Humans faced a thresher maw, you couldn´t have any idea how to fight them. I don´t see any reason why should you denounce yourself for it."

"Maybe you´re right." Shepard said and smiled weakly. "I´m glad it´s you of all Spectres who will be keeping an eye on me."

Nihlus returned the smile and then spoke to himself. "I couldn´t ask for a better candidate." Both men laughed briefly.

Joker reported through the intercom. "Engaging stealth systems, ETA to surface five minutes." Elevator door opened and Captain, accompanied by Alenko and Jenkins, entered the cargo hold. Both soldiers were fully armored and held weapons in their hands. Normandy started to shake mildly when entered the atmosphere.

Commander looked at Jenkins. The young marine looked unsure and his enthusiasm was gone. Shepard could not blame him, not when his home was under attack. Kaidan led him away for a while to talk to him. Commander did not hear what those two were saying but it was pretty clear Lieutenant tried to calm Jenkins down. After a while, Jenkins finally composed himself a bit.

Captain called up the soldiers to him and turned his attention to Shepard and the two marines. "Your team will be a muscle in this operation, commander. Go in heavy and head straight to the dig site."

"And what about survivors, Captain?" Kaidan asked.

"Helping survivors is a secondary objective; the beacon is your top priority!" Anderson answered.

Cargo bay door started opening slowly. Ship flew just a few meters above the colony´s surface. "Approaching the drop point one." Helmsman announced. Nihlus pulled out a shotgun and went to the door.

Jenkins turned to him. "Nihlus? I thought you were coming with us?"

"I move faster on my own!" Answered Nihlus and jumped out of the ship, which was floating few meters above the ground.

"Nihlus will scout out ahead." Anderson continued. "He´ll feed you status reports throughout the mission; otherwise I want a radio silence."

"We´ve got his back, Captain!" Shepard answered.

Anderson nodded. "The mission is yours now, Shepard. Good luck!"

Joker´s voice echoed through the com. "Approaching the drop point two."

Commander turned to his team. "What are you waiting for, guys? Let´s get started!" Team of three men ran down the ramp and jumped on the ground, while Normandy floated still above the planet´s surface. When marines got off the ship, Normandy took off and returned to the colony´s orbit.

The soldiers readied their weapons and started investigating the surroundings. The sky was almost black from the smoke from numerous fires. Burn could be smelled in the air. "My God," Jenkins breathed out. "What happened here?" Commander beckoned both soldiers and all three men started their progress.

Shepard´s transmitter came to life. "This place got hit hard, hostiles everywhere. Keep your guard up!" Warned Nihlus.

Shepard turned to his squad. "You heard the man; this place is crawling with hostiles. Eyes peeled and shoot, if you have any doubts, understood?" Both soldiers nodded and went on.

The squad was running through a small gorge, when Alenko noticed two bodies lying on the ground. Both of them were burned to the bones. Shepard shook his head to get that horrific image out of his head and went further. After a while, three marines ran out to the small opened space, covered in boulders. Commander stopped to look around the surroundings. He did not see anything. He waved on Jenkins to move first and followed him along with Kaidan.

Corporal made barely ten steps when two strange armored drones appeared from nowhere and opened fire. Jenkins desperately tried to jump to nearest cover, but those drones were faster. Slugs went right through Jenkins´ shields and armor. The marine fell limply to the ground.

Kaidan gazed horrified at his friends´ motionless body and rage consumed him. He and commander ran out of cover and his body became engulfed in bright blue glow. Drones turned their attention to him and started firing. Projectiles just bounced off harmlessly of his biotic barrier. Alenko threw a warp ball at one of the machines and turned it into a scrap metal. Commander shot down the remaining drone with his assault rifle.

Both men ran to Jenkins. Extent of his injuries made them jump. Kaidan kneeled to the wounded soldier and searched for a pulse. He did not find any. Kaidan closed dead man´s eyes and turned to his commander. "Ripped right through his shields and armor. Never stood a chance." His voice was silent and hollow.

Shepard swore to himself. Finally he said "His death will be in vain, if we don´t find that beacon, so I need you to stay focused."

"Yes sir." Kaidan answered. He picked up his pistol and added "Let´s go."

Shepard and Alenko carried on. When they erased another swarm of drones, Nihlus spoke again. "I´ve got a few burned out buildings here, Shepard. A lot of dead bodies. I´m going to check it out a bit and then I´ll try to catch up with you at the dig site."

"Nihlus, we were attacked by some flying machines a few minutes ago. Jenkins was killed in action. Stay on guard!" Shepard answered.

"Understood." Replied Nihlus. Transmitter went silent.

Two soldiers ran in a small forest, where they were attacked by another group of drones. Shepard and Kaidan took them out with biotic attacks and accurate shooting. When they came out of the forest, they saw another gorge ahead of them. Marines went through the gorge and saw a soldier in the distance. Woman in a white armor ran away from a pair of armed drones shooting at her. Suddenly she turned, jumped backwards and sent both machines to the ground with a precise pistol fire. Shepard noticed another figures in the distance and put binoculars to his eyes.

What he saw were some machines, remotely resembling humanoids. They had some strange shining optic devices instead of heads. The robots held an unconscious colonist between them and laid him on some tripod platform. One of those machines activated that thing.

In an instant, a spike flew out of the platform, literally impaled the colonist and killed him. Shepard saw many horrible things during his career in the military, but this sight made his gut clench and he felt a brief urge to vomit. The female soldier must have seen that too because she jumped to her feet immediately and ran away to hide behind a large boulder. It was clear that she was scared. The robots drew their weapons and slowly approached the place where the woman was hiding.

Commander turned to Kaidan and said silently "Lieutenant, we´re coming closer. When we´re close enough, we´re attacking. Take out the one on left, the other one is mine." Both soldiers began to approach slowly. The female marine was aware of that those machines knew she was there. She slowly pulled out her assault rifle and got ready for an inevitable fight. Shepard waited just a moment and yelled "NOW!"

Both men threw themselves at the machines, which started shooting. Kaidan activated his omnitool. Weapon of one of those synthetics exploded and tore off its owner´s arm. Kaidan finished off the disarmed robot with a pistol fire. Shepard threw a warp ball at other robot and decapitated it. Marines looked around and searched for other hostiles. There was no one.

The woman went slowly towards the two men. "Thanks for the help; I already thought I was a goner." Soldiers turned to her. Woman stopped and saluted. "Gunnery chief Ashley Williams of the 212." She looked at Shepard. "You the one in charge here sir?"

"Are you wounded, Williams?" Commander asked.

Chief Williams looked like she has been through enough for this day. "Nothing serious, just a few scratches and burns. The others weren´t so lucky…" She sighed with exhaustion and continued. "Oh man…we were on a routine patrol when the attack hit. We tried to get off a distress call, but they cut off your communications. I´ve been fighting for my life ever since."

"Where´s the rest of your unit?"

"We tried to fall back to the beacon, but we walked into an ambush. I don´t think the others…I think I´m the only survivor." Chief become visibly distraught when she mentioned her unit.

"I and lieutenant are not here for too long." Said Shepard and pointed at remains of a ripped up synthetic. "Do you have any idea what are those?"

"I…I´m not sure but…I think they´re Geth."

_Geth_, thought Shepard. He knew a little about this robotic race. They were created by quarians, who planned to use them as a cheap workforce. They equipped their creations with a simple VI so they could do multiple different tasks. As time went by however, the Geth evolved and their intelligence got close to the AI level. Quarians were afraid of rebellion and tried to deactivate them. Geth responded with an attack and during a few months they casted their creators out of their homeworld, Rannoch. Then they disappeared.

Kaidan shook his head in confusion. "The Geth haven´t been outside the Perseus Veil for 200 years. What would they do on Eden Prime?"

"No idea, but I´d say that they came for that beacon." Chief pointed at somewhere behind her. "The dig site is close, just over that rise. It might still be there."

"Are you able to fight?" Commander asked Williams. "We´ve lost a man in action just a few minutes ago. We could use your help."

"Aye aye sir." Williams nodded and then said. "It´s time for payback."

"Welcome on board. Commander Shepard." Shepard pointed at Kaidan. "Lieutenant Alenko. Just one more thing." Shepard remembered. "Haven´t you seen a turian Spectre around here?"

"There are no turians on Eden Prime. Well, at least I haven´t seen any." Chief answered and smiled. "I´m not even sure I could tell if it was a Spectre anyway."

"If you saw this guy you´d know." Alenko replied. "He carries enough firepower to wipe out the whole platoon. Luckily, he´s on our side."

Williams shrugged. "Sorry sir. Like I said, no turians."

"Okay, we should move on." Said Shepard and the group headed to the beacon. He had a strange feeling while moving around the burned out village. It was like he was stared down by a Death herself. He nearly jumped scared, when Kaidan touched his shoulder. "Look," He mumbled. "Other of those weird spikes."

Shepard saw other people impaled on those strange folding spikes ahead of him. He felt a shiver down his spine when the horrific memory came back to him. "Do you remember?" He whispered. "That guy was still alive when those Geth impaled him on that thing."

Chief´s face expressed both wrath and disgust. "Like killing isn´t enough. Those bastards want us to suffer."

"Psychological warfare, maybe? Using fear as a weapon?" Kaidan mused. "But since when are machines interested in things like these?"

"Let´s just find that beacon." Shepard ordered. Few minutes and blown up Geth after, the group of soldiers found itself at the dig site. But the beacon was not there.

Williams was confused. "That beacon was right here, someone must´ve moved it!"

"By who? Our side, or the Geth?" Kaidan asked.

"Hell if I know. Maybe we should search the research camp to find out." Chief answered.

"Research camp? You think that some of those scientists survived?"

"If they were lucky. The 232 was with them when we were attacked. Maybe their unit fared better than mine."

Commander´s transmitter came to life again. "Change of plans, Shepard. There is a loading platform ahead of us. I´m going to check it out. We´ll rendezvous there."

"Nihlus, if you haven´t encountered them yet, the Geth are here! Watch your back!"

"I already know about them. Something is off about this attack. Watch yourselves!" Transmitter went silent.

Williams spoke. "Wasn´t it that Spectre you spoke about earlier?"

Commander nodded. "Take us to the camp, Chief. Maybe we´ll be lucky to find some survivors."

Williams gestured to the path leading up the hill. The trio proceeded cautiously to the top of the hill. The research camp was burning but few buildings were still intact. The soldiers entered the camp when a sudden mechanic sound scared them. They turned left. Again, they saw a few of those alien spikes. On three of them were impaled human bodies. However, these looked different. They were interlaced with some implants and they had inhumanly gray-blue color. One of them started moving while the spikes retracted in the tripod base.

"Oh my God…" Kaidan gasped. "They´re still alive!"

"What did the Geth do to them?" Williams yelled.

Another two bodies came to life. The three creatures started limping towards the marines and one of them began to emit blue sparks. Shepard was the closest to them and he noticed his shields glimmering. The shield generators started to overload.

"Shit," He screamed. "Shoot them before they fry our shields!" All of them opened fire. The former human beings were surprisingly tough. They threw themselves at the soldiers until they were shot to shreds.

Kaidan scowled. "I think I understand those spikes now. Their purpose is to turn our own dead against us." Williams just closed her eyes and mumbled something to her.

Shepard turned to them. "Come on, people, we have to find that beacon before it´s too late!"

* * *

Nihlus sighted something looking like a loading platform ahead of him. This mission was getting worse by every minute. Burned out houses, slaughtered civilians, Jenkins´ death, Geth presence…and now those undead things. The Spectre could just hope that Shepard was alright.

Nihlus ran on the steel platform and examined the vicinity. Burning crates, debris, those strange spikes…but the enemy was nowhere to be seen. Suddenly, he saw movement. He quickly took cover behind one of the crates. He waited a minute, and then he ran out of cover and took aim…but did not shoot. It was because of the person he was aiming at.

Nihlus´ bright green eyes blinked in surprise. He just said with disbelief "Saren?"

The person turned to face him. He was a tall, muscular turian in a silver armor and a hood over his head. He had a prosthetic left arm. The stranger raised his brows. If he was surprised, he did not let it on. "Nihlus."

Nihlus put his weapon down when he recognized his old friend. "This isn´t your mission, Saren. What are you doing here?"

Saren stepped to NIhlus and patted him on the shoulder. "The Council thought you might use some help on this one, old friend."

"I didn´t expect anyone to attack this world. And I certainly didn´t expect Geth here." Nihlus got despondent. "The situation looks bad." He turned and stared at the smoke covering the sky.

"Don´t worry." Saren realized Nihlus turned his back to him. "I´ve got everything under control." While saying those words, he pulled out a pistol and aimed it slowly at Nihlus´ head. Then he took the shot.

* * *

Shepard, Alenko and Williams ran to the spaceport. A while ago, they learned from two scientists who managed to hide from the Geth, that the beacon was moved in the cargo area of the spaceport. They had to get to the nearby loading platform and ride a train from there. As the soldiers proceeded to the loading platform, they heard a shot in the distance. They jumped aside. "Take cover!" Hissed Shepard. "Sniper, gotta be close!"

Williams shook her head. "That was not a rifle." Marines got to their feet and carried on warily.

After a while, the group got to the edge of a valley and saw a loading platform. However, there was something else far behind it. Shepard felt his heart nearly stopped beating, when he recognized the object. It was a ship, the same strange ship he saw on the recording back on the Normandy. It had a long hull, sparkling with red lightning, and a few strange, tentacle-like mechanical arms attached to one end. The whole thing resembled a squid. The ship slowly took off and flew away to the space.

Chief gasped. "Did you see that? That thing must be at least 2 kilometers long!" Alenko and Shepard just stared, unable to say anything. Soon they heard groaning and a mechanical buzz, coming from the loading platform. Marines opened fire. In a matter of a few seconds, Geth and the zombies were annihilated.

"There must be that cargo train somewhere; it should take us to the spaceport." Chief said while they ran to the loading platform. It was burning in some places. Crates and debris were scattered all over the place. It was something else, though, what attracted Kaidan´s attention.

"Commander," He said nervously. "That´s Nihlus." Shepard took a better look at the platform and saw a turian body lying in a pool of a blue blood. Commander froze for a moment and then he ran. "NIHLUS!" Alenko and Williams followed him. Commander kneeled to Nihlus and tried to find a pulse. However, he knew it was pointless when he noticed a hole in Nihlus´ forehead. Turian´s green eyes were widened, as if out of a pain or a surprise. Shepard felt a brief urge to punch something. "He´s gone." He said with a hollow voice.

Suddenly, chief pulled out a pistol. "Watch out, there´s something behind those crates!" All three soldiers aimed their weapons but they lowered them shortly after they saw a frightened dockworker. "NO! Don´t shoot! I´m one of you, I´m a human!"

"Why are you sneaking around here?" Shepard asked angrily. "We could´ve killed you!"

Dockworker stammered. "I…I´m sorry…I just…I was just h-hiding here…from those…those things." The man noticed a body lying on the ground and added. "Yeah, and I know what happened to that turian. The other one shot him."

Shepard raised his brow, clearly confused. "The other one? What the fuck are you talking about?"

Dockworker gulped and started talking. "That other turian, he waited for the one of yours. Your friend called him 'Saren'. I think they knew each other. Your buddy let his guard down and…Saren killed him. Shot him right in the back of his head, kinda like execution-style. Then he jumped onto the train and left to the spaceport. He might´ve gone after that beacon." The man scowled. "I should´ve known that beacon would just cause trouble. Since they found it things went fucked up. First the mothership, then the attack…they killed everyone. Every-damn-one! If I didn´t manage to hide I´d be dead too!"

It was pretty obvious the dockworker had a tough day. Alenko asked patiently "That mothership you saw, what it was?"

"I´ve never seen anything like this. That thing was huge. Whole place became dark as it landed near the second loading platform. It made…noise, the…sound, which just bored right into my brain. The attack came just a few minutes after that." The dockworker started to shake when he spoke about it.

Commander knew he would not get anything more out of the scared worker. "Get some place to hide." He told the man who almost immediately ran away, and then he turned to his squad. "Let´s get that beacon." The marines headed to the cargo train, but just after a few steps they got under fire from Geth soldiers. Again, they were forced to shoot their way through.

Shepard was surprised, how calm Williams was while she was picking off hostile synthetic with a surgical accuracy. Kaidan was sending a wave after wave of biotic energy at the Geth troopers, while Shepard moved forward and blasted through the hostiles with his shotgun. A lot of ripped synthetics were already lying on the ground, but more of them were coming. Commander was going to shout at Williams to throw a few grenades at them, but something suddenly threw him aside. Shepard crashed into the wall and growled in pain. He looked quickly ahead of him and saw a Geth soldier, bigger than the others. The machine held a large rifle and stared right at him. He was about to shoot when a few slugs bounced off of him and grabbed his attention. Shepard saw the opportunity and threw the Geth soldier away with his biotics. The machine flew about six meters far and smashed against the one of steel containers.

It took a few minutes of constant fire before the things went quiet again. The squad took the train to the spaceport. Nobody said a word during the ride. Shepard was observing the landscape, looking for any signs of an ambush. Kaidan checked his weapons and armor. Williams just sat exhausted on the floor.

After ten minutes the train arrived to the spaceport. Soldiers drew their weapons and scanned the surroundings. All of a sudden they heard a suspicious steady beeping. Alenko activated his omnitool and his eyes widened when he saw the readings. "Demolition charges! Four of them, those bastards want to blow this place up!"

"Hurry!" Yelled chief. "We have to find them all and shut them down!" Familiar clicking sounds reverberated through the spaceport.

Shepard switched to the assault rifle. "We´ll need to take care of few friends first. How much time we have?"

"Five minutes, sir." Alenko answered. The squad ran to the nearest bomb. "Cover me, I´ll take care of it!" Kaidan kneeled to the bomb and manipulated with circuits. The countdown stopped shortly. "One down, three to go. Come on!" Yelled commander and opened fire upon the Geth who were already shooting back. They had to hurry, if they wanted to shut down all charges.

Marines obliterated one machine after another. They let one of them deal with the bomb while the others covered him and kept the hostiles busy. This tactic paid off in the end. Soon, all bombs were disabled. The remnants of the Geth troops in the spaceport were taken care of a few minutes after. Williams just blew a hole into one of the remaining machine when she noticed a large crater, surrounded by molten remains of a landing platform.

"My God." She whispered. "It looks like someone dropped a bomb here."

Kaidan frowned. "That has to be where the Geth ship landed."

Shepard called from the distance. "Come here people! I think I found that beacon!" Kaidan and Williams ran to Shepard. They found him standing before the beacon. The prothean device was glowing faint green.

Shepard called the Normandy. "Normandy, it´s Shepard. The beacon is secure. We need an immediate extraction."

Alenko and Williams stood aside and watched the glowing object. "This is amazing. Actual prothean technology, still functioning even after 50 000 years. Unbelievable!" Kaidan stared in awe at the prothean artifact for a while and then he went to commander.

"It wasn´t doing anything like that when we dug it up." Muttered Williams and slowly approached the beacon. "Something must´ve activated it." Suddenly, the device reacted to her presence and lighted up bright. Chief found herself being pulled to the beacon by an invisible force. She struggled desperately to break free, but it was pointless. Inch by inch, she was getting closer to the beacon.

Commander was standing nearby and discussed results of the mission with Alenko, when he noticed the green glow. The beacon was shining bright and somehow it pulled chief towards it.

"Ashley!" Screamed Shepard and ran to chief right when something lifted her slowly off the ground. He grabbed her and threw her aside. Too late he realized, though, that now it was him, who was trapped in the beacon´s force field. The invisible hand lifted him up. Shepard felt a sharp pain tearing through his body. Horrifying images started to dart through his mind.

_Death. Destruction. Cataclysm. Apocalypse._

_The city burns and goes to pieces._

_Mysterious figures are forcing their way through the ruins. They are running from the death. Lethal beams are turning them into ash._

_Parents are embracing their children, like they want to protect them from death._

_Titans of a cold metal are killing all life beneath their arms._

_Whole worlds are engulfed in flames. No way of escaping._

Something exploded. Shepard lost consciousness.

* * *

_Another chapter finished...I did my best to translate it correctly but I had to improvise sometimes :-D Again, sorry for my English. Next chapter - Investigation_


	5. Investigation

_SSV Normandy, en route to Widow System_

"You sure he´s gonna be alright, doctor?"

"Absolutely, Chief Williams. I´ve already patched up so many patients that I only have to look to decide who is fine and who is not."

Shepard heard muffled voices as if from the distance. He opened his eyes slowly. At first, he did not see anything but dim bluish white lights, and then he began to recognize shapes of medical equipment. He must have been in the infirmary, but he could not remember where he was, let alone how he got here.

"Uh…doctor? Doctor Chakwas? I think he´s waking up!" Commander heard a familiar voice of Ashley Williams, while he struggled to sit on the bed. He must have been aboard the Normandy, far away from Eden Prime.

Doctor Chakwas, about fifty years old woman with silvery hair, came to his bed, smiling. "You had us worried down there, Shepard. How are you feeling?"

_Huh, good question._ Shepard felt disorientated and had a strong headache. Memories started to come back to him slowly. Eden Prime. Prothean beacon. Horrific images in his head. Explosion and then…nothing.

"I´d say it´s worse than morning after shore leave." Commander exclaimed sarcastically. "How long was I out?"

"About fifteen hours." Doctor had to stifle a laugh when seeing astonishment in Shepard´s face. "Something happened down with the beacon, I think."

"It was my fault." Murmured Ashley and hung her head. "I must have triggered some kind of a security field when I approached it. You had to push me out of the way."

Shepard saw Chief was shaken and he knew she needed some encouragement. "You couldn´t have known what would happen." He grinned and added in a joking manner "Consider it a lesson for the next time we find a strange alien artifact." Ashley relaxed a bit and her lips curled up in a tiny smile.

"In fact, we don´t know what happened." Doctor said. "And probably we´ll never have a chance to find out."

"The beacon exploded. A system overload, maybe. The blast knocked you out. The lieutenant and I carried you back to the ship." Ashley explained.

"Well damn," Shepard murmured to himself. "Some serious injuries?" He asked.

"Apart from a minor brain concussion, you´re fine. But I detected some unusual brain activity, abnormal beta-waves." Doctor answered. "I also detected an increase in your rapid eye movements, which is associated with intense dreaming."

Shepard stood up and leaned his back on a bed. "It was more than just a dream. I saw…" Shepard thought over how he would describe it. "…I don´t even know for certain what I saw. Death, destruction…it doesn´t make much sense to me." He shook his head and stared at the floor.

"Hmm…that´s interesting." Chakwas said out loud, thinking. "I better add this to my report. It may…" She was interrupted when Captain Anderson entered the med-bay. "Oh, Captain Anderson."

Anderson stepped to the doctor, his face emotionless. "How is our XO holding up, doctor?"

"All the readings seem normal, I´d say Commander is going to be fine."

"Glad to hear it." Said Anderson and looked at Commander. "Shepard, I need to discuss something with you. In private, if possible." He glanced at Chakwas and Williams while saying these words.

Chief saluted. "Aye aye, Captain. I´ll be in a mess if you need me." Both women left the infirmary.

Anderson turned to Shepard again. "Sounds like the beacon hit you pretty hard, Commander. Are you sure you´re okay?"

Shepard just stared at the floor. "I hate it when people under my command are dying. Jenkins had a whole career ahead of him. Damn, he had a whole life to live. For his parents it was enough of a shock that their home was attacked. How the hell are we supposed to tell them that their son is dead?"

"Jenkins´ death wasn´t your fault, commander. No one could have predicted Geth would attack Eden Prime. Not after two hundred years of hiding." Captain answered.

Shepard raised his head and looked at Captain. An idea flashed through his mind. "What about Chief Williams? We have a hole in our crew after Jenkins´ death and I think I could use a soldier like her. I saw her in action and…"

Captain interrupted him. "You don´t have to explain, I agree with you on that one. Williams was transferred to the Normandy."

"That´s a good news." Said Shepard and looked at Captain questioningly. "But I doubt you came here just to discuss Williams, sir."

Captain sighed. "I won´t lie to you Shepard, things look bad. Nihlus is dead, the beacon was destroyed and Geth are invading. The Council will want answers."

_Yeah sure, they just want a scapegoat._ Shepard scowled over this thought. "I did what I could, Captain. If those guys from the Council want to blame me for what happened, they can go screw themselves!" He said angrily.

Anderson started pacing the room. "I´ll stand behind you and your report, Shepard. You´re a damned hero in my books. However, that is not why I´m here. It´s Saren, that other turian. Saren Arterius is a Spectre, one of the best and a living legend. But if he´s working with the Geth, it means he has gone rogue."

Anderson stopped and looked at commander. "Rogue Spectre is a big trouble, Shepard. Saren is dangerous, and the worse thing is he hates humans."

"Why?" Shepard asked.

"He thinks we´re growing too fast and taking over the galaxy. A lot of aliens think that way, most of them don´t do anything about it. But Saren allied himself with the Geth. I don´t know when and I don´t know why, but I´m sure it has something to do with that beacon." Answered Captain, then he asked. "You were there just before the beacon self-destructed. Did you see anything? Anything what could give us a clue what Saren was after?"

Commander leaned on the bed and said "Just before I lost consciousness, I had some kind of vision."

"Vision? What vision? What exactly did you see?"

Shepard recalled images the beacon gave him and went pale momentarily. Finally he said "I saw some synthetic, Geth maybe. They were killing everybody, it was a slaughter."

"We need to report this to the Council." Anderson said.

Shepard raised his brows. "With all due to respect sir, WHAT are you gonna tell them? I had a nightmare or something?" He asked doubtfully.

"We don´t know what information was stored in that beacon." Captain explained. "Lost prothean technology? Blueprints for some ancient weapon of mass destruction? Whatever it was, Saren took it, and I do know his reputation, his politics. This attack of his was a clear declaration of war to humanity. He has secrets from the beacon and an army of Geth under his command. He will not stop until he wipes humanity from the face of the galaxy."

Shepard heard enough to understand what monster he was dealing with. He saw what did his metal puppets do on Eden Prime, and he knew he had to be stopped. "I´ll find some way to take him down."

Anderson shook his head. "It won´t be that easy. He is a Spectre, he can go anywhere and do almost everything. That´s why we need the Council on our side."

Shepard just laughed bitterly. "They won´t help us, Captain. They never gave a damn about us, so why should they make a difference now? As you said, Saren is a Spectre, and that just makes it worse."

"Maybe, but if we find some way to prove Saren is a traitor, the Council will revoke his Spectre status." Anderson answered. Commander nodded in understanding. "I´ll talk with our ambassador and see if he could get us an audience with the Council." Anderson continued. "He´ll want to see us as soon as we reach the Citadel. We should be getting close, so head up to the bridge and tell Joker to bring us into dock."

Shepard nodded and saluted. Both men left the infirmary, Captain went to his cabin, while Shepard headed to the bridge. He went through the mess hall, when Ashley waved at him from the table. Kaidan sat opposite to her.

"I´m glad you´re okay, commander. The crew could use some good news after what happened to Jenkins." Ashley spoke as Shepard came to them.

"Jenkins was a fine soldier, despite his age. And he was my friend." Said Kaidan sadly.

Shepard sighed. "Yeah, he´ll be missed. I wish we could have saved him."

"Hey, you were there, you did everything right, it was just bad luck." Kaidan answered.

"And you saved a lot of lives. Thousands of people would be dead if you haven´t show up." Ashley added.

"Maybe, but I couldn´t do this without you." Said Shepard with a weak smile.

"We´re marines, we stick together." Kaidan answered and shook his head. "But still, it was a hell of a shakedown cruise. Our first mission together ends up with one Spectre killing another.

"To say the mission gone wrong is an understatement. Are you okay?" Shepard asked as he leaned on a table with his hands.

"I…I´ve seen friends dying before. It comes with being a marine. But to see my whole unit being wiped out…" Ashley trailed off; it seemed she could not believe it yet. "And I never got used to seeing dead civilians. But it could have been way worse if you hadn´t shown up."

"I hear you, chief. Seeing dead civvies was a thing I always hated." Kaidan growled.

Shepard turned to Ashley. "How are you settling in, by the way?"

"I spent most of my time on the ground, commander. Being on board the ship again is a little strange to me." Ashley answered.

"Don´t worry, you´ll get used eventually. Alenko can give you a tour aboard the ship, if you like." Kaidan smiled a little at commander´s comment. "Well, I have to go to the bridge." Said commander and turned to leave.

"Commander?" Shepard stopped and looked at Ashley. "Thanks. I´m really glad to be here." She said with a smile.

Commander returned the smile and replied "Don´t thank me, you deserved it." Then he turned away and headed to the bridge.

* * *

_SSV Normandy, Widow system, Serpent Nebula_

Shepard entered the Command deck and felt the Normandy slowing down sharply. Some of the officers glanced at him momentarily. They already knew what happened down on Eden Prime and they were relieved to see their CO unharmed. Shepard stopped by Pressly for a while. Half-bald navigator was clearly glad commander survived the mission without any permanent damage. After short talk with Pressly, Shepard proceeded to the bridge.

View from the bridge was covered in silver grey, while Normandy was flying through the cloud of dust and gas. Joker heard footsteps and turned around to see the commander coming to the bridge. "Good timing, commander. I was just about to bring us to the Citadel, to see taxpayer´s money at work." Shepard snorted at helmsman´s remark and leaned on co-pilot´s seat.

After a while, Normandy flew out of the cloud of dust and Shepard saw the Citadel, the centre of the Council space. He saw it before on the holos, but there it was not even remotely as majestic and impressive as in reality. Citadel, which remotely resembled a cylinder, consisted of five giant arms approximately 40 kilometers long, connected to the central ring by their ends. It was a pinnacle of prothean engineering. In case of danger, the Citadel arms could clasp together and create an impenetrable projectile-shaped "carapace". Most of inhabitants lived on the arms of the station, so called Wards. The Presidium ring was a seat of Embassies and many government offices. Its part was also a Citadel Tower, where the Council Chambers and main traffic control were located. The station was surrounded by tiny dots, representing Citadel defense vessels. There was a larger ship floating among them, which looked like a four-pointed star.

Shepard was very fascinated by the view. Kaidan and Ashley appeared on the bridge. Chief looked out of the window and just stared with her mouth agape. "Look at the size of that ship!" She cried out in astonishment and pointed at the giant vessel among several turian cruisers.

"That´s Destiny Ascension, the flagship of the Citadel fleet." Kaidan explained. He smiled as Ashley watched the enormous vessel with shocked face.

Joker grinned. "Well, size isn´t everything."

Ashley turned to him, asking with a smile. "Why so touchy, Joker?"

"I´m just saying I could fly circles around that thing without getting hit." Joker replied, referring to low maneuverability of large vessels.

"Hardly. Just look at those weapons. They could cut through shields of any ship in Alliance Navy!" Ashley objected.

"Good thing it´s on our side then. I wouldn´t want to fight that monster." Kaidan muttered to himself.

Normandy flew past the Ascension and several turian ships. Joker spoke through the comm. "Citadel control, this is SSV Normandy, requesting permission to land."

A bored voice echoed on the other side. "Standby for clearance, Normandy." The voice came back after a few seconds. "Clearance granted, transferring you to the Alliance operator."

The new voice in the comm announced. "Normandy, this is Alliance tower, you may begin your approach. Proceed to the dock 422."

"Roger that, Normandy out." Joker replied and closed the channel.

A while later Normandy was docked and secured by anchoring devices. Shepard, Kaidan and Ashley put their armors on and with pistols in their holsters they followed Captain Anderson to the human embassy.

_The Citadel, Widow system, Serpent Nebula_

Anderson and three soldiers stood in front of the Embassies. Shepard, Kaidan and Ashley were on the Citadel for the first time and they viewed the Presidium in amazement. There were trees, lawns, a lake with a fountain and even an imitation of the sky above all of this. Anderson gave them a while to look around and then beckoned them to come with him to the office of the human ambassador, Donnel Udina.

When they entered the ambassador´s room, they heard Udina shouting. "This is an outrage! The Council would step in if the Geth attacked a turian colony!" Ambassador stood before the holograms of Council members, representing turians, asari and salarians. He was totally enraged. Anderson motioned the marines to wait until Udina´s talk with the Council is over.

"Turians don´t establish colonies on the borders with Terminus systems, ambassador." Said salarian councilor.

Asari councilor added. "Humanity was well aware of the risk when they went into Traverse."

"And what about Saren?" Udina growled. "You can´t just ignore the rogue Spectre, I demand action!"

Turian councilor brushed him off. "You don´t get to make demands of the Council, ambassador."

"C-Sec is investigating your charges against Saren. We will discuss their findings at the hearing, not before." Asari councilor ended the debate and the holograms vanished.

Udina looked like he was far more than just enraged. He just stared at a wall for a while before he noticed the visitors, standing at the door. "Captain Anderson. I see you brought half your crew with you." He welcomed Captain somewhat coldly.

"Just a ground team from Eden Prime, in case you had any questions." Anderson answered.

Udina let out a frustrated sigh. "I have mission reports regarding Eden Prime. I assume they´re accurate?"

They are. Sounds like you convinced the Council to give us an audience." Anderson said.

Udina folded his arms on his chest and scowled. "They were not happy about it. Saren Arterius is their top agent, so naturally they don´t like him being accused of treason."

Shepard, who was silent until now, decided to speak up. "Saren is a threat to all human colonies. We´ve got to stop him and I won´t sit on my ass and wait until the Council finally decides to do something."

Udina shot Shepard an angry look and replied. "You settle down commander. You have done more than enough to jeopardize your candidacy to the Spectres. The mission on Eden Prime was a chance to prove you can get the job done, and what happened? Nihlus ended up dead and the beacon was destroyed!"

Captain decided to intervene and yelled at Udina. "That was Saren´s fault, not Shepard´s, ambassador!"

"Then we better hope that C-Sec investigation turns up evidence to support our accusations. Otherwise, the Council might use this as an excuse to keep you out of the Spectres." Udina replied coldly and turned to Captain. "Come with me, Captain. I want to go over a few things before the meeting. Shepard, you and your friends will meet us in the Council Chambers. I´ll make sure you get a clearance to go in." Captain joined the ambassador and both men left the room.

Ashley shook her head. "And that´s why I hate politicians."

"He just does his job. I don´t know what would you do in his place." Kaidan remarked.

Shepard looked at both marines and said "Fine, let´s go people. I don´t want to be late at that hearing, given Udina´s mood."

* * *

The elevator stopped with a slight jolt and Shepard with his associates stepped into the Council Chambers, which were even more embellished than the Presidium. The place was filled with asari, salarians and turians, all of them having a special permission. Trio of soldiers passed through a long alley until they came in a large courtyard with a fountain in the middle, surrounded by trees.

There were two turians arguing with each other. One of them wore a blue armor, typical for a C-Sec officer, an equivalent of a policeman on Earth. The other one was clothed in something resembling a multicolor version of a formal suit. Shepard and his teammates were close enough to hear the quarrel.

Blue armored turian said angrily to the other "I´m telling you, Saren´s hiding something! Try to stall them somehow, all I need right now is more time!"

The one wearing a suit shook his head. "Stall the Council? Either you have a strange sense of humor or you´re just insane. In any case, your investigation is over, Garrus." With these words he turned away and left.

C-Sec officer grumbled something and then he noticed the group of three humans, standing just a few meters away. He recognized instantly the man who led them and came to him. Turian officer with a blue facial markings and a visor over his left eye introduced himself. "Commander Shepard? Garrus Vakarian. I was in charge of a C-Sec investigation into Saren."

Shepard was surprised that officer recognized him. "Who were you just talking to?"

Garrus sighed. "That was Executor Pallin, head of C-Sec and my boss. He´ll present my findings to the Council."

"Came across anything I should know about?" Commander asked.

Officer Vakarian scowled and shook his head. "Saren is a Spectre and most of his activities are classified. I couldn´t find anything solid. But, he´s definitely up to something, as you humans say, I feel it in my gut."

Shepard wanted to ask for something else, but Kaidan said "We should go, the Council is waiting for us."

"Good luck, commander. Maybe they´ll listen to you." Garrus said and left to the elevator.

Shepard and his companions went through another courtyard before they stood in front of stairs where Anderson waited for them. "The hearing has already started, come on." He called Shepard. Both men went up the stairs to the central platform. Kaidan and Ashley had to wait below.

All councilors already stood on their places. On their left floated Saren´s hologram. He did not come personally. Saren stood there with his arms folded on his chest and he looked like the hearing bothered him. Ambassador Udina stood on the tribune and tried to keep himself calm.

Anderson and Shepard already stood by his side when asari councilor spoke. "The Geth attack is a matter of some concern, but there is nothing to indicate Saren was involved in any way."

"The investigation by C-Sec turned up no evidence to support your charge of treason." Turian councilor added.

"An eyewitness saw him kill Nihlus in cold blood." Udina countered.

Salarian councilor spoke. "We´ve read Eden Prime reports, ambassador. A testimony of one traumatized dockworker is a hardly compelling proof."

"I resent these accusations." Saren boomed. "Nihlus was a fellow Spectre, and a friend."

"That just let you catch him off guard!" Anderson barked.

Saren took a sharp look at Anderson, his voice filled with arrogance. "Captain Anderson. It´s strange you always seem to be involved when humanity makes false charges against me." The Spectre then glared at commander. "And this man must be your protégé; Commander Shepard, the one who let the beacon get destroyed."

Shepard tried to sound calm. "The mission on Eden Prime was top secret. The only way you could know about the beacon was if you were there!"

Saren replied calmly "With Nihlus gone, his files passed on to me. I´ve read reports on Eden Prime and frankly, I wasn´t impressed at all." He turned to Council members and sneered venomously "But what else could you expect from a human?"

Shepard scowled menacingly, this was far too much. He glared at Saren and exclaimed with pure hate "You can expect me to kill you the next time we meet, you smug bastard."

Saren merely smiled. "You species needs to learn its place, Shepard. You´re not ready to join the Council, you´re not even ready to join the Spectres!"

Now it was Udina who lost his patience. "He has no right to say that! That is not his decision!"

Asari councilor tried to placate participants of the hearing. "Shepard´s admission to the Spectres is not a purpose of this meeting."

Saren waved his hand in a mocking gesture. "This meeting has no purpose. Those humans are wasting your time, councilors, and mine."

"You can´t hide behind the Council forever!" Shepard growled.

Anderson was slowly losing his patience. He kept his temper and spoke. "We still have here an outstanding issue: Commander Shepard´s vision. We think it might be triggered by the beacon."

Shepard gave him and incredulous "You can´t be serious!" look. Saren chuckled and exclaimed "Are we allowing dreams into evidence now? How can I defend my innocence against this kind of testimony?"

"I agree. Our judgment must be based on facts and evidence, not wild imaginings and reckless speculation." Turian councilor added.

"Do you have anything else to add, Commander Shepard?" Salarian councilor asked.

Shepard felt his blood boiling with anger. He had a strong urge to tell the Council what he thought about all this. But eventually he calmed himself down. He had to, the situation was already tense as it was, and he did not want to make it worse. Finally he said "You´ve already made your decision. Why should I waste my breath if it doesn´t change anything?"

Council members glanced at each other. Finally asari councilor said "The Council has found no evidence of connection between Saren and the Geth. Ambassador, your petition to have him disbarred from the Spectres is denied."

Saren sneered "I´m glad to see the justice was served." His hologram disappeared.

"This meeting is adjourned." Asari councilor added and joined the other Council members who left their places.

The human delegation left the tribune. Udina was utmost displeased with the Council´s decision. Anderson just sighed in defeat. Shepard looked like he couldn´t wait to kill something. The group went down the stairs and met the soldiers, who were waiting for them during the meeting. They did not look happy; they must have known the verdict.

"It was a mistake bringing you to that meeting, Captain. You and Saren have too much history. It made the Council question our motives." Said Udina, still angry about the result of the meeting.

"You had a history with Saren, Captain? What happened?" Shepard asked.

"I worked with him on a mission once, and things went bad, really bad." Anderson answered. "We shouldn´t talk about this here. But I know Saren and he has to be stopped. He allied himself with the Geth for one reason: to exterminate the entire human race. Every colony we have is in danger, even Earth isn´t safe."

"The Council won´t help us. We need to deal with Saren ourselves." Shepard exclaimed angrily.

"As a Spectre, he´s virtually untouchable." Udina thought aloud. "We need to find some way to expose him."

Kaidan was scowling, until an idea struck him. "What about Garrus, that C-Sec officer, who argued with the Executor?"

"That´s right! He wanted more time to finish his report. Bet he was close to finding something on Saren." Ashley agreed.

"Do you know where could we find him?" Shepard asked.

"I have a contact in C-Sec who can help us track Garrus down. His name is Harkin." Udina answered.

Anderson shook his head. "Forget it. Harkin got suspended last month, drinking on the job. I won´t waste my time with that loser."

Udina glared at him. "You don´t have to. I don´t want the Council to use your past history with Saren as an excuse to ignore everything we turn up. Shepard will handle this."

"This is not fair, you can´t just cut Anderson out of this investigation!" Shepard protested.

Anderson sighed. "Udina is right, Shepard. I need to step aside."

"I need to take care of some business." Udina said. "Captain, meet me in my office later." Ambassador turned on his heels and left.

Anderson looked at Shepard. "Harkin is probably getting drunk at Chora´s den, it´s a dingy little club in the lower Wards. It couldn´t hurt talking to him, but you should be careful. I wouldn´t call him reliable."

Shepard grinned. "You don´t think much of Harkin, right?"

Anderson frowned. "That guy joined the C-Sec about 20 years ago and he was an embarrassment to our species ever since. Roughing up suspects, alcohol and drug use, bribery accusations…The human embassy would step in if Harkin got into trouble, but enough is enough."

Shepard shook his head in disgust. "That guy is a scumbag. They should´ve thrown him out a long time ago."

"He was the first human officer in C-Sec, it wouldn´t look good if he got fired. Politics is a dirty business sometimes." Anderson answered. "But now we´ve got more than enough human officers to get rid of Harkin."

Shepard thought for a minute. "Alright, let´s assume Harkin doesn´t talk. Is there anyone else who could help us out, then?" He asked.

Anderson stepped to him and said quietly "You should talk to Barla Von, he has an office in a financial district on Presidium. Word is that he´s an agent for the Shadow Broker."

"Who´s the Shadow Broker?" Ashley asked, clearly confused.

"He´s an information dealer. He buys and sells secrets to the highest bidder. I heard Barla Von is one of his highest representatives." Anderson explained. "He might have something on Saren and his activities, or he could at least put you on the right track. But that information won´t come cheap, count on it."

"I should go." Shepard said finally. "The sooner we expose Saren the better."

"Good luck. I´ll be in ambassador´s office if you need anything." Anderson replied.

Three marines headed to the exit from the Chambers. "What will we do, Commander? We´re gonna question Harkin first, or we´re heading to that information dealer?"

"We´ll try visiting Harkin first." Shepard answered. "He might know where Garrus is. If he won´t talk, I´ll make him. I would use some cheering up, anyway."

Ashley snorted. "Just don´t forget we need that asshole alive. Sir."

* * *

The taxi landed a few meters far from the entrance to the Chora´s den. Shepard and his teammates got out of the skycar and looked around. However, they did not notice a couple of turian mercenaries, who observed them from distance. Commander heard just "That´s him!" before the gunfight broke out. Humans threw themselves into nearest cover at once, when two turians started shooting at them. If they hadn´t been armored, they would have been dead.

"Those must be Saren´s men!" Kaidan yelled and crouched behind the guardrail. Shepard knew they were at disadvantage. The mercs were well equipped, while the ambushed marines had only pistols.

"Keep them busy for a while, I´ll go and try to flank them!" Shepard shouted and glanced out of cover. The assassins were under fire from Kaidan and Ashley and tried to cover themselves. Shepard used this chance and ran. The turians were still firing at two other marines, when Shepard appeared behind them and slammed his fist into the face of one of the assassins.

The blow, multiplied by biotics, was strong enough to turn turian assassin´s face into a crater. The other merc aimed his rifle at Shepard right away, but when he pulled the trigger, the weapon exploded, showering him with sparks. Turian cursed and threw the destroyed weapon away. He reached for his sidearm, but Ashley stopped him by putting a bullet in his head. Assassin was dead even before hitting the ground.

Commander looked back at the marines who ran to him. "Are you okay, sir?" Ashley asked. Kaidan´s omnitool was still active, as he used it to fry the gun of one of the assassins.

Commander grinned, pointing at the dead bodies. "Hell of a lot better than them. Are you alright?" Both soldiers nodded.

"Looks like Saren really doesn´t want us to find out something. Otherwise, he wouldn´t send those guys." Ashley remarked.

"That means he certainly hides something." Kaidan replied.

"I´m glad Saren sent them against us. I wanted really badly to shoot something." Shepard quipped, smiling. "Let´s pay Harkin a visit." Soldiers holstered their weapons and entered the club.

As they went inside, the smell of cigarettes and alcohol hit them. Loud music echoed through the club. There was a bar in the middle of the hall, occupied by several half-drunk people of multiple races. Scantily dressed dancers could be seen all over the place, either pole-dancing on the stage above the bar or sitting in men´s laps. The whole place looked rather like a brothel.

Ashley observed the scene for a while with disgusted expression, and then she remarked "A million light-years from where the humanity began, and we walk into the bar filled with men drooling over half-naked women, shaking their asses on the stage…I can´t decide whether it´s funny or sad."

"What? You don´t think they´re here because of the food?" Kaidan replied sarcastically and looked around the club. A young asari, dancing in front of some man, attracted his attention. "But, I can see why this place is so popular among the locals. It has quite the, ah…view."

Ashley shot him a dirty look. "Lt, put your tongue back into your mouth before you trip on it!"

Shepard snickered while listening to Ashley´s talk with Kaidan. He tried to find Harkin among the people in there, when he noticed two Krogan standing at the entrance somewhere to the back rooms. One of them looked like a bouncer, which was a perfect job for Krogan, due to their strength.

"Back off, Wrex. Fist ordered us to take you down if you showed up." The bouncer growled at the other Krogan.

Wrex, wearing a red armor and horribly scarred on his right cheek, did not look like intimidated. "So what are you waiting for? I´m standing right here." Scarred Krogan leaned to the bouncer and added "This is Fist´s only chance. If he´s smart, he´ll take it."

"He´s not coming out, Wrex. End of the story." Bouncer replied.

Wrex grinned. "The story is just beginning." Then he turned to leave. As he went past the Shepard´s group, he grumbled "Out of my way, humans. I have no quarrel with you."

"What the hell was that about?" Kaidan muttered.

"Who knows, let´s just try not to get caught in the middle." Ashley exclaimed.

Shepard finally noticed a bald man sitting alone at one of the tables. He was definitely Harkin, both by appearance and state. Harkin´s eyes were glistening and he stank with alcohol. Shepard and his companions came to him and waited patiently, until the drunken officer noticed them. Harkin look at them after a while and slurred "Well, Alliance soldiers, huh? *hic* I coulda been a marine too, ya know? But I joined the fuckin´ C-Sec instead, the biggest guddamn mistake of my life."

That man made Shepard sick. He asked calmly "You´re Harkin, right? I´ve been told you could help me find someone. A C-Sec officer, a turian named Garrus Vakarian."

Harkin chuckled. "Garrus? Heh, you must be one of Anderson´s crew, huh? *hic* That poor bastard is still trying to take down Saren, right?" He took a sip and continued. "I know where Garrus is, but you gotta tell me somethin´ first. Did Anderson let ya in his dirty lil´ secret?"

Shepard frowned. "I´m not in a mood, so don´t try to piss me off and tell me where Garrus is."

Harkin did not give up. "But it´s all related, don´t ya see? Anderson used to be a Spectre, did ya know that? It was all very hush-hush. He was the first damn human given that honor and then he blew it. He screwed up one mission so bad they kicked him out. He blamed Saren for this, f´course. He said the turian set him up." Harkin grinned and downed his drink.

"Why should I trust a drunk like you?" Shepard asked him doubtfully.

Harkin raised his hands in resignation. "Fine, ask Anderson. He´s too proud and dumb to lie to you."

Shepard lost his patience and slammed his hand into the table, yelling "Dammit! Stop jerking me around and tell me where Garrus is before I kick your sorry ass!"

Harkin noticed Shepard´s hand reaching for a pistol and blurted out, startled "Okay okay, Garrus is sniffin´ around Dr. Michel´s clinic. Last I heard he went there."

Shepard refused to look at Harkin again and said to his teammates "You heard him, let´s go." The soldiers turned to leave the club. Harkin just grinned and said to himself "Yeah, go, lemme drink in peace."

Shepard was enraged again, twice in one day. If he stayed in Chora´s den for another more minute, he would lost it and beat the crap out of Harkin. Anderson was clearly not wrong about him. The group passed through the alley without any words. Ashley soon interrupted the silence. "Why didn´t Captain Anderson tell us he used to be a Spectre?"

Kaidan scowled. "Maybe it´s not true. Harkin is an ass. Maybe he was just messing with our heads."

"Maybe," Said Ashley "But still, I´d like to hear what the Captain has to say about all this."

"That guy was really getting on my nerves." Kaidan remarked. "I´m not an aggressive type, but Harkin was really asking for me to crack his face. He´d look better, at least."

Ashley laughed. Shepard replied with a wide grin "That´s two of us, LT."

Three marines came on a smaller square, crowded with humans, asari, turians and members of other races. There was a view at the rest of the Citadel. Marines stared in awe at the massive arms of the Citadel. For a minute, they were silent.

After a while, Kaidan exclaimed "This is…a big place."

Ashley looked at him. "That your professional opinion, sir?"

"This isn´t just some station, it´s a city." Shepard breathed out.

"There must be millions here. How do they manage to track everyone coming and going? It can´t be possible." Mused Kaidan.

"This makes Jump Zero look like a porta-john. And it´s the largest deep space station the Alliance has." Ashley added.

"Yeah, Jump Zero was big. But this is a whole ´nother scale. Look at the Ward arms. How did they manage to keep all this mass from flying apart?" Kaidan wondered.

"The Council represents more races than I thought. No wonder they´re careful with newcomers." Shepard exclaimed.

"They probably just want to keep everything running." Kaidan replied. "It must be hard to make all those cultures working together."

"Or maybe they just don´t like humans." Ashley grumbled.

Shepard decided to end the debate. "Alright, secure the chatter. We´re all FNG´s here but we don´t have to make it obvious. Besides, we have a job to do if I recall." The group headed to Dr. Michel´s clinic.

As they arrived to the clinic, they heard muffled voices inside. Shepard ordered his teammates to draw weapons and he went slowly inside. The doctor was surrounded by four armed men. She was scared and started screaming when one of those men started waving his gun in front of her face.

"I didn´t tell anyone, I swear!"

The man grinned and replied "That was smart, doc. When that C-Sec turian, Garrus, comes here, you stay smart. Keep your mouth shut and…" Man noticed three soldiers entering the clinic and grabbed the doctor, using her as a human shield. "Who the fuck are you?" He yelled at commander.

"Let her go, now!" Shepard ordered and aimed his pistol at the man holding the doctor. Suddenly, Garrus appeared from nowhere and shot at the armed thug without hesitation. The bullet hit the man in a head and he slumped to the ground, dead. Doctor, now free, jumped to the nearest corner, out of the firefight.

The fight lasted just several seconds. The gangsters were no match for trained Alliance soldiers and all of them were lying dead on the floor, when the shooting ceased. Garrus holstered his pistol and stepped to commander. "That was a perfect timing, Shepard. You gave me a clear shot on that bastard." He exclaimed with satisfaction.

"What the hell were you thinking?" Ashley hissed at Garrus; she was angry. "You could´ve hit the doctor!"

Garrus wanted to defend himself but Shepard interrupted him. "We got rid of those thugs, that´s important." He looked at Garrus and said with a grin "Nice shot, Vakarian, by the way. You took him down clean."

Garrus shrugged. "Well, sometimes you get lucky. Are you hurt, Doctor Michel?" He asked Michel.

Doctor answered with a distinct French accent. "No, I´m alright, thanks to you, all of you."

"Do you know who did they work for? Why were they threatening you?" Commander asked.

"They worked for Fist. They wanted to stop me from telling Garrus about the quarian." Doctor was still shaken after the gunfight and her voice was trembling.

That brought everyone´s attention. "What quarian?" Kaidan asked.

"A few days ago, a quarian came to my clinic." Michel explained. "Someone shot her, but she didn´t tell me who. She was scared, probably on the run. She asked me about the Shadow Broker. She wanted to give him information in exchange for a safe place to hide, so I gave her a contact for Fist, he´s an agent for the Shadow Broker…"

Garrus interrupted her. "Not anymore. Fist is now working for Saren, and the Shadow Broker is pretty pissed about that."

Michel looked shocked. "Fist betrayed the Shadow Broker? That´s stupid, even for him! Saren must have given him quite the offer."

"That quarian has something Saren wants, and he wants it so much that he´s willing to cross the Shadow Broker for it." Garrus frowned.

"She didn´t tell me exactly what sort of information she had. As I said, she…" Doctor trailed off when she recollected something. "It was Geth! I think her information had something to do with the Geth!"

"She must know something what connects Saren to the geth. There´s no way the Council ignores this!" Garrus exclaimed.

Shepard grinned. "I think it´s time to have a nice friendly chat with Fist."

Garrus looked at commander and said decisively "Shepard, I know this is your show, but I want to take down Saren as much as you do. I´m coming with you!"

"You´re a turian. Why would you, of all people, want to bring him down?" Ashley asked wryly. Shepard noticed how taunting she sounded and glared at her.

Garrus ignored her comment. "I couldn´t find the evidence I needed during my investigation but I knew what was really going on. Saren is a traitor to the Council and a **disgrace** to my people!" He said hotly. It was clear how outraged he was.

Shepard smiled and shook hands with Garrus. "Welcome aboard, Vakarian."

"Just one more thing: We´re not the only ones going after Fist." Garrus added. "The Shadow Broker hired a bounty hunter named Urdnot Wrex to get rid of Fist."

"Yeah, the Krogan. We saw him in the Chora´s den." Ashley muttered.

"Last I heard he was seen in C-Sec Academy. Fist accused him of making threats and our people brought him in for a little talk. If we move out now, we can catch him." Garrus explained.

"A Krogan might come in handy." Shepard said. "Let´s go for him."


	6. The Spectre

_The Citadel, system Widow, Serpent Nebula_

Shepard and his teammates, accompanied by officer Vakarian, headed to the C-Sec Academy the fastest possible way. To their luck, they arrived just in time. The krogan bounty hunter was still in the Academy and one of senior officers, accompanied by two younger colleagues, was having a little talk with him.

"Witnesses saw you making threats towards Fist in Chora´s den. Stay away from him." The human officer ordered.

Wrex folded his arms on his chest. He was not afraid of that puny human. "I don´t take orders from you." He growled.

The officer frowned. "This is the first and the last warning you get, Wrex."

Krogan made a step towards the human and said "You should warn Fist. I will kill him."

Human officer stepped back with a disgusted face, as Wrex spoke very close to him. "You want me to arrest you?" He threatened.

Wrex grinned mockingly. "I want you to try." He looked at the officer with his red eyes for the last time and then turned to leave. The officer shook his head in disapproval and headed back to the inside of the Academy. Bulky Krogan went to the exit but then he noticed the group of three humans and a turian officer. He remembered those humans from Chora´s den and he headed towards them.

Wrex gave Shepard a long look. "Do I know you, human?" He asked.

Shepard didn´t even flinch as Wrex addressed him. "I´m commander Shepard. I´m going after Fist and I wondered if you´d want to come along." He replied.

Wrex stared at him for a moment and then he grinned as a realization hit him. "Shepard? Commander Shepard? I´ve heard quite a lot about you." He stepped closer to the human and added "We´re both warriors, Shepard. Out of respect, I´ll give you a fair warning. I´m going to kill Fist."

"Fist already knows you´re coming. We´ll have a better chance if we´re working together." Garrus suggested.

"My people have a saying: Seek an enemy of your enemy and you will find a friend." Wrex replied.

Shepard smiled. "Looks like we´ll be getting along just fine, Wrex."

Wrex nodded and said, grinning "Let´s go; I hate to keep Fist waiting."

* * *

Several minutes later, Shepard found himself in front of Choras´s Den again, along with Ashley, Kaidan, Garrus and Wrex. Loud music from the club would be normally heard in nearby streets. However, now the club was silent.

"Looks like they shut it down." Garrus said.

Wrex grumbled. "Fist knows we´re coming for him."

Everyone pulled out their weapons. Kaidan kneeled at the door and tried to unlock them with his omnitool. The others took their position on both sides of the door. After a few seconds the door opened and the small army invaded the club. There were twenty Fist´s goons inside, everyone armed. Kaidan shot the man standing at the bar, but had to duck into cover as the others started shooting at him. Shepard ordered his teammates to split up. Garrus and Wrex took the left side, while Shepard and Ashley took the right. Gangsters did not have armors nor combat training and started dying in quick succession.

Wrex turned out to be a strong biotic, fighting rather up close and personal. Garrus was quite capable in using an omnitool and he was an excellent shot too. Kaidan used efficiently both technical and biotic abilities. Ashley proved on Eden Prime she was an experienced and fearless soldier. Shepard, despite being a very capable biotic warrior, relied rather on his weapons. The gunfight ended soon with all Fist´s men lying dead on the floor.

Shepard ordered Ashley and Kaidan to stay in the main hall in case they were ambushed from behind. He took Garrus and Wrex with him and headed to the back rooms. They went through a door, which opened and revealed two men standing in a small corridor. They drawn their weapons and aimed at the intruders, but they did not look determined to use them.

"The warehouse workers. All the real guards must be dead." Garrus pointed out.

"Back off! Or we´ll shoot!" One of the men yelled, failing in masking his fear.

Shepard grinned and told the men "I think it´s about time to find another job."

The workers put down their weapons. The one, who yelled earlier, said "Y-yeah, we´re going!" His friend muttered "I never liked Fist anyway."

As the workers left, Wrex shook his head. "It would have been quicker to just kill them."

Garrus replied with a grin "Shooting people isn´t always an answer."

Shepard and his team broke into the next room and saw Fist in a black armor, hiding behind the couch. "Do I have to do everything myself? Time to die, little soldiers!" He shouted at uninvited quests and activated two defense turrets. Garrus and Wrex threw themselves into cover as the turrets started firing upon them. The turian officer leaned from the cover to overload shields of one of the turrets. Wrex finished off the unprotected machine with warp. Shepard rolled over, dodging bullets flying at him, and threw a grenade at the remaining turret. Explosion tore it apart and knocked Fist to the ground.

Shepard, Wrey and Garrus moved towards the defeated gangster and aimed their weapons at him. Fist raised his hands and begged "Please, don´t kill me, I surrender!"

Shepard exclaimed, smiling "Well, you´re not as stupid as you look. Now tell me where the quarian is."

"She´s not here! I dunno where she is, that´s the truth!" Fist retorted.

"He´s not useful to you anymore. Let me kill him." Said Wrex.

Fist started stammering, his eyes widened "W-wait! I don´t know where she is but I know where you could find her! She´s not here, she said she would deal with the Shadow Broker himself!"

Wrex scowled. "Face to face? That´s crap. Even I was hired through an agent."

Gangster got up slowly and continued "Nobody meets the Shadow Broker, ever. Even I don´t know his true identity. But she didn´t know that. I told her I´d set the meeting up. But when she gets there, Saren´s men will be waiting for her."

Shepard aimed his pistol at Fist´s face and growled "Tell me where the meeting is before I blow your head off!"

Fist answered, trembling with fear "The local Wards! The back alley near the markets! She´s supposed to meet them right now; you can make it if you hurry!"

Without a warning, Wrex pulled out a shotgun and shot Fist in the chest. Gangster flew backwards and landed on his back, dead. Garrus was shocked. "What the hell are you doing?" He yelled at Wrex.

"Shadow Broker paid me to kill him." Wrex answered calmly. "I don´t leave my jobs half-done."

"He was unarmed and surrendered!" Garrus protested.

Wrex glared at him and grumbled "How many people died because of him? He got what he deserved."

Shepard jumped when he heard gunfire in the club hall and shouted "Screw that, guys! We have to save that quarian!" As they ran out of the room, Shepard noticed the suspicious data disc lying on the table and he took it.

Kaidan and Ashley were ambushed by another wave of Fist´s thugs. They covered themselves behind the bar and fired at attackers. Shepard, Wrex and Garrus joined the firefight and cleaned the room in the matter of minutes. Fortunately, the marines were not hurt.

"Where did those bastards come from?" Shepard asked Ashley.

"It must´ve been a trap!" Ashley answered, breathing hard. "Fist knew we would fight our way to him and he let some of his men wait in back to attack us from rear!"

"Yeah, and someone wondered why I shot that asshole." Wrex mumbled.

Garrus ignored his comment. "I know the place where the meeting is!" He shouted at the others. "Follow me, we´re out of time!" Garrus ran out of the Chora´s den and led Shepard and the others to the back alley. They had to be quick. When they arrived to where the meeting took place, they saw a feminine figure in an enviro-suit, being surrounded by three armed men. The quarian realized it was a trap and threw a grenade at the mercenaries approaching her from behind. The explosion gave her some time to try to hide.

Garrus grabbed his sniper rifle and aimed at the one of the assassins, tearing his head clean off with a single shot. Shepard and the others opened fire. Remaining mercs were shot dead even before they realized they were attacked. As the gunfire ceased, the young quarian walked out of cover and yelled angrily "Fist set me up! I knew I couldn´t trust him!"

"Are you alright?" Shepard asked and holstered his weapon.

"I know how to look after myself." The quarian answered. "Not that I don´t appreciate the help. Who are you?"

"My name is Shepard. I´m looking for evidence to prove Saren´s a traitor." Commander replied.

"Then I have a chance to repay you for saving my life. But not here; we need to go someplace safe." Quarian suggested.

"We can take her to the Embassies. Your ambassador will want to see that anyway." Garrus said to Shepard.

The commander nodded and the group escorted the quarian to the Presidium.

* * *

Udina stood in his office, looking out of the balcony. When he heard the door opening he turned towards the visitors. He scowled as he saw Commander Shepard, accompanied by two human marines, turian officer and a scarred krogan. Commander wanted to say something but ambassador did not let him.

"You don´t make my life easy, Shepard." Udina exclaimed bitterly. "Firefights in the Wards, all out assault on Chora´s den, are you completely insane? Do you realize, how many…" He paused when he noticed another figure among the visitors. Recognizing an enviro-suit and a toned visor, he asked in astonishment "What is this? A quarian? What are you up to, Shepard?"

Shepard rolled his eyes and said, annoyed "This quarian has evidence connecting Saren to the Geth. I would have told you if you hadn´t jumped down my throat."

Udina shook his head and replied "I´m sorry, this whole mess with Saren has me a bit on the edge." He looked at the quarian. "Maybe we should start at the beginning, miss…"

"My name is Tali." The quarian introduced herself. "Tali'Zorah nar Rayya."

„We don´t see many quarians here. Why did you leave the Flotilla?" Ambassador asked. Meanwhile, Anderson entered the Udina´s office. He was quite surprised to see so many people in usually almost empty room.

"I was on my Pilgrimage, my rite of passage into adulthood." Tali explained.

"A Pilgrimage?" Shepard said in confusion. "I´ve never heard of this before."

"It´s a tradition among my people." Tali replied. "When we reach maturity we leave the ships of our parents and our people behind. Alone we search the stars, only returning to the Flotilla once we find something a value. In this way, we prove ourselves being worthy of an adulthood."

"Tell us what you found." Said Anderson.

Tali began explaining. "During my travels, I started hearing reports of Geth. Since they drove my people to exile, they never ventured beyond the Perseus Veil. I was curious. I tracked a geth patrol to the uncharted world. I waited for one to become separated from its unit, and then I disabled it and removed its memory core…"

"Wait." Anderson interrupted her. "Don´t the Geth have some kind of defense mechanism against this? I´ve heard they fry their memory core once they are disabled."

"My people created the Geth, so we know what to do." Tali explained. "If you´re careful, quick and lucky enough, sometimes you can salvage small caches of data. In my case, most of the memory core was wiped clean, but I managed to salvage something of its audio banks." Tali activated her omnitool and typed a few commands on its holographic interface.

The recording started playing and the room was filled with Saren´s voice. "Eden Prime was a major victory. The beacon will bring us one step closer to finding the Conduit."

The other voice on the recording, distinctively feminine, answered "And one step closer to the return of the Reapers."

"We got him!" Anderson barked out in enthusiasm. "This recording clearly proves Saren was involved in the attack on Eden Prime!"

Udina thoughtfully scratched his chin and muttered "I don´t recognize the other voice, the one talking about Reapers."

Shepard suddenly started to feel uncomfortable. "Saren was talking about Conduit. What is that? And what are those Reapers?" He asked.

"According to the memory core, the Reapers were a hyper-advanced machine race existing a 50 000 years ago. Those Reapers hunted the protheans to the total extinction and then they vanished. At least, that´s what the Geth believe. About the Conduit…I have no idea." Tali shrugged.

Shepard felt a chill coming down his spine. Those visions from the beacon began to make sense. If those machines in these visions really were the Reapers, the galaxy was in a grave danger. He had a feeling it must have been true, because those images from the beacon seemed like he actually watched the destruction with his own eyes. The problem was those visions were the only proof of Reaper existence and Shepard was the only one who saw them. With the Eden Prime beacon gone, he could not presume the other people would believe him.

"This sounds a little far-fetched." Udina said disapprovingly, interrupting Shepard´s thoughts.

"These visions from Eden Prime…I think I understand them now. I saw protheans being wiped out by the Reapers." Commander spoke.

"Geth revere the Reapers as gods, a pinnacle of non-organic life." Tali added. "They believe Saren found a way to bring them back."

The others were listening intently to the conversation. While the visions from the beacon were discussed, Garrus murmured in confusion "Visions? What visions?" Kaidan leaned to him and told him about Eden Prime, the beacon and visions it gave to the commander. Garrus listened, fascinated, and did not say a word. Wrex seemed very bored, if he listened to what was spoken, he did not let it on at all.

Udina frowned and said ironically "The Council is going to love this."

Even though he did not like it, Shepard had to admit Udina was right about that. "This may be quite hard to handle. They might just ignore everything we tell them."

Anderson shook his head and said "It doesn´t matter what will they think about the rest. These files prove Saren is a traitor and we have to present it to the Council as soon as possible."

Wrex, utterly lethargic until now, suddenly spoke up. "What about her, the quarian?"

"I´ve got a name, krogan." Tali shot back, offended. Wrex grinned and did not answer. Tali looked at Shepard and said "You saw me back in the alley, Commander; you know what I can do. Let me come with you."

"I thought you´re on your Pilgrimage." Shepard exclaimed, taken aback.

"The Pilgrimage proves we are willing to give up ourselves for a greater good. What does it tell about me if I turn my back on this? Saren is a danger to the whole galaxy, my Pilgrimage can wait." Tali replied.

Shepard thought about this. Tali was young, but he already saw she could take care of herself, plus quarians were technical geniuses. He made up his mind. "Welcome aboard. I´ll welcome anyone who helps me take Saren down."

Shepard did not see her face, but he could tell Tali was happy. "Thanks, you won´t regret this." She said, satisfied.

Udina cleared his throat and said "Anderson and I will go ahead to get things ready with the Council. Take a few minutes to collect yourself and then meet us in the Citadel Tower." Udina and Anderson left the office, heading to the Tower.

"So, what happens now, sir?" Ashley asked.

"It will take some time before those two set things up." Shepard answered. "We´ll meet in Council Chambers in about 20 minutes. Until then, you´ll have some time for yourself." The crowd went out of the ambassador´s office to leave the Embassies.

As Shepard went past the reception, someone called him by name. He turned around and saw an older, dark-skinned man, who looked clearly frustrated. Shepard raised his hand and signaled the group to stop. The man slowly stepped to Shepard and introduced himself "Commander Shepard? My name is Samesh Bhatia. Forgive the intrusions but I have nowhere else to turn."

"It´s not a problem, sir. What can I do for you?" Commander asked.

Samesh sighed in frustration. "My wife was an Alliance marine. She was in 212 on Eden Prime."

That brought Ashley´s attention. "212? Your wife was Private Nirali Bhatia? I´m Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams, I served in the same unit like her."

Samesh was taken by surprise. "Chief Williams? It is a pleasure; Nirali spoke of you with a great respect." He said.

Ashley looked genuinely sad. "I´m so sorry for your loss, Mr. Bhatia. Nirali was a good woman. What can we do for you?" She asked politely.

Shepard turned to the rest of the group and told them "Go ahead, I and Williams will meet you in the Tower."

When the others left, Samesh went on "I´ve requested that my wife´s body to be returned to me for cremation, but the military has refused my request!"

"Why did they refuse your request? There must be some good reason." Shepard wondered.

Samesh hung his head in desperation "I don´t know, they didn´t tell me a thing. They just claimed it was impossible for my wife to be returned to me."

Shepard shook his head in disbelief, this was just outrageous. "This is stupid; they have no right for this. Who should I talk to about this?" He asked.

"Talk to Mr. Bosker. The last time I saw him, he was in the expensive bar over there." Samesh answered and pointed at a club in the Embassy area.

Shepard doubted words alone could solve this problem, but he wanted to help this man. Finally he said "I´ll try to talk to this Bosker, but I can´t guarantee a success."

Samesh looked relieved and he said gratefully "Thank you Commander. I just want to give my wife a proper funeral and a respect she deserves."

"Wait here. I may not be gone long." Shepard answered and headed to the bar, followed by Ashley. She knew Nirali Bhatia quite well and this whole matter with her body just irritated her. The couple entered the bar. Shepard looked around and noticed a man in suit, leaning on the wall and holding a drink.

He stepped to him and asked coldly "Mr. Bosker?"

Bosker looked at the newcomer and froze. "Commander Shepard? I-is there something I could possibly help you with?"

"I hope so. I´m here for Mr. Bhatia, if you know what I´m talking about." Shepard replied.

Bosker hung his head nervously. "Ah…Mr. Bhatia, a good man in an understandably frustrating position. Wish I could help him."

Ashley glared at him and said angrily "Oh yeah? Then if you were so eager to help him, why didn´t you?"

Bosker gulped and started explaining "Serviceman Nirali Bhatia was killed on Eden Prime, as Mr. Bhatia no doubt told you. Her wounds were inconsistent with any type of weapon we´ve seen before. That´s why we cannot release her body."

"So what? Is that because of its "bad shape" or is there something else?" Shepard asked, feeling his patience being slowly consumed.

Bosker shook his head and continued "No! In fact, we´re holding her body for research. The test we´re conducting may lead to better defenses against the Geth weaponry."

"I understand what you are trying to do. But denying Mr. Bhatia his right to have his wife´s body returned to him is just wrong." Shepard claimed.

"Commander, you of all people should understand how far we have to go to protect humanity!" Bosker retorted.

Shepard frowned and raised his voice "And how will you explain this to Bhatia? I don´t know your opinion on this but I think it´s crap. If you want to develop better defenses against Geth, why don´t you grab some of their own weapons for testing? I´m pretty sure some of them remained preserved after the attack!"

Bosker wanted to say something else, but Ashley came to him and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. "You make me sick," She snarled fiercely "Even the dead ones have an honor, they don´t deserve to be used by some perverted freaks like you as test subjects for some lousy experiments!" Bosker widened his eyes and dropped his glass, scared by her outburst. Ashley released him and strode out of the bar without saying a word.

"Alright, you won." Bosker replied with a shaky voice. "It was hard refusing Mr. Bhatia, I´m not going to risk an incident by refusing you. I´ll see to myself that Nirali Bhatia´s body is returned back to her husband."

"That´s good, Mr. Bhatia will be glad to hear it." Shepard answered. He was also taken aback by Ashley´s behavior. "By the way, I apologize for Chief Williams. She served with Bhatia in the same unit, so she takes it a little personally."

"I understand, commander. Tell Mr. Bhatia his request is accepted." Said Bosker. Shepard nodded in acknowledgement and left the bar. Ashley was waiting for him outside, still angry, but she calmed down a bit when Shepard signaled her he persuaded Bosker. They returned to the Embassy entrance hall.

Samesh felt a great relief as Shepard told him he managed to persuade Bosker to release the body of his wife. He even could not find words to express how grateful he was. Ashley surprised Shepard once more when she shook hands with Samesh and hugged him briefly. When they walked out of Embassies, Ashley did her best to hold back tears of emotion. She turned back on Samesh for the last time as he went to search for a transport to Earth and then she followed Commander to the Citadel Tower.

* * *

Shepard and Ashley walked through the Council Chambers and looked for the rest of the group. Finally they saw Kaidan waving at them to draw their attention. Tali was sitting on a bench and Garrus was standing near her, nervous, as if he expected more trouble. Wrex stood next to Kaidan, ignoring everything.

Shepard came to them and said "I hope we didn´t keep you waiting too long. Any trouble when you went in here?"

"You know that they don´t simply let everyone in Council Chambers, Commander. They already knew about Tali, but they didn´t want to let Wrex through with weapons. Well, I promised I´d keep an eye on him." Garrus answered, smiling.

Wrex overheard the conversation and snorted with laughter "Yeah, they´re definitely not used to seeing a krogan walking in here."

They waited a few more minutes before Captain Anderson showed up and called them to follow him. Only Shepard and Tali were allowed to go onto the tribune, the other had to wait below the stairs. The Council members were already standing on their places, ready to start the meeting. Ambassador Udina was waiting on the tribune. When he saw Anderson coming along with Shepard and Tali, he said "Well, miss Zorah, let´s get to the point." Then he turned to the councilors and exclaimed "You wanted proof, there it is!"

The recording of Saren´s dialogue with an unknown woman filled the auditorium. The councilors were listening carefully, if they were shocked, they masked it well. Finally the turian councilor cleared his throat and announced "This evidence is irrefutable, ambassador. Saren Arterius will be stripped of his Spectre status and all efforts will be made to bring him in to answer for his crimes."

"I recognize the voice of the other person talking with Saren." Asari councilor said "Matriarch Benezia."

"Who is she?" Shepard asked.

"As a matriarch, she is one of guides and mentors to my people. Moreover, she is a powerful biotic and she has many followers. She would make a very valuable ally to Saren." The councilor replied.

"I´m more interested in those Reapers. What do you know about them?" Salarian councilor asked.

"Only what was extracted from the Geth memory core." Anderson explained. "The Reapers were an ancient race of sentient machines that wiped out the protheans. Then they vanished."

"The Geth revere them as gods, and they believe Saren is a prophet of their return." Shepard added.

"We think the Conduit is the key to bringing them back. Saren is searching for it, which is why he attacked Eden Prime." Anderson continued.

"Do we even know what this Conduit is?" Salarian councilor asked.

"Not yet. However, Saren believes he can bring back the Reapers by using it. That´s bad enough." Shepard said.

"Just listen to what you´re saying!" Turian councilor grumbled "Saren wants to bring back the machines that wiped out all life in the galaxy? That´s impossible, it has to be! Where did the Reapers go? Why did they vanish? Why didn´t we find some traces of their existence? If they were real, they would have left something behind!"

"I tried to warn you about Saren and you refused to admit the truth." Shepard answered exasperatedly. "Don´t make the same mistake twice!"

"This is different." Asari councilor claimed "You proved Saren is a traitor. We all agree he is using the Geth to search for the Conduit, but we don´t really know why."

"The Reapers are obviously just a myth, commander; a convenient lie to cover Saren´s true purpose. A legend he used to bend the Geth to his will." Salarian councilor added.

"50 000 years ago, the Reapers wiped out all galactic civilization. If Saren finds the Conduit, it will happen again!" Shepard exclaimed.

Turian councilor ignored Shepard´s comment and said "Saren is a rogue agent on the run for his life. He has no longer resources or rights of a Spectre. The Council stripped him of his position."

Udina´s face turned red in anger as he shouted "That´s not enough! You know he´s hiding somewhere in the Traverse. Send your fleet in!"

"The fleet cannot track one man." Salarian councilor said dryly.

Udina did not look convinced by the explanation. "A Citadel fleet could secure an entire region! Keep the Geth from attacking any more of our colonies!"

"Or it could trigger a war with the Terminus systems." Turian councilor shook his head and said dismissively "We won´t be dragged into a galactic conflict over a handful of human colonies."

Shepard lost his patience and yelled "Everytime humanity asks you for help you just turn your back on us!"

"I agree with Shepard!" Udina shouted. "I´ve had enough of this Council and its xenophobic antihuman bull-"

The spectators gasped for breath. Until this time, no one dared to shout at the Council like this. The people could not imagine what enraged ambassador would say if the asari councilor did not interrupt him in mid-sentence. "Ambassador! Maybe there is another solution; a way to stop Saren that does not require fleets or armies."

"No!" Turian councilors cried out. "It´s too soon! Humanity is not ready for responsibilities that come with joining Spectres."

Shepard knew this problem could not be solved by yelling and decided to change tactics. "Think of it as a compromise." He said "You won´t have to send your fleet into the Traverse and Udina will have his human Spectre. It would be beneficial for both sides."

Two council members looked at the turian councilor. After a little while, he nodded. Asari councilor looked at Shepard and said "Commander Shepard, step forward."

Shepard was surprised. He exchanged looks with Anderson and then he made a reluctant step forward. Those, who observed the session, humans, turians, asari, salarians, hanar, all of them started whispering among themselves in excitement.

The Council members started speaking one after another, starting with asari councilor. "It is a decision of the Council that you be granted all powers and privileges of the Special Tactics and Reconnaissance branch of the Citadel."

"The Spectres are not trained, but chosen. Individuals forged in the fire of service and battle; those whose actions elevate them above the rank and file."

"Spectres are an ideal, a symbol; embodiment of courage, determination and self-reliance. They are the right hand of the Council, instruments of its will."

"The Spectres bear a great burden. They are protectors of a galactic peace, both our first and last line of defense. The safety of the galaxy is theirs to uphold."

"You are the first human Spectre, Commander. This is a great accomplishment for you and our entire species."

Shepard bowed slightly and said "I´m honored, councilor."

"We´re sending you into the Traverse after Saren. He is a fugitive from justice, so you are authorized to use any means necessary to apprehend or eliminate him." Salarian councilor said.

"I will stop him." Shepard answered firmly.

"This meeting of the Council is adjourned." Asari councilor announced and the Council members parted.

Captain Anderson stepped to Shepard and shook hands with him. "Congratulations, commander." He said with a smile.

Udina, who managed meanwhile to calm himself down a bit, said "We´ve got a lot to do, Shepard. You are going to need a ship, a crew and supplies…Anderson, come with me. I´ll need your help to set all this up." Anderson nodded and left the tribune with ambassador.

Tali looked at Shepard and said, surprised "I thought your ambassador would be a little more grateful, he didn´t even thank you."

Shepard smirked. "It doesn´t matter whether he thanked me or not. Now we have to focus on Saren. Let´s go." The couple went down the stairs and joined Wrex, Ashley, Garrus and Kaidan, who were waiting on the courtyard during the meeting.

"So humans have their own Spectre now." Garrus said and shook hands with Commander, smiling. "Congratulations, Shepard."

"Your ambassador wasn´t half-bad." Wrex said with laughter. "I didn´t expect a human to have a quad to scream at the Council."

Shepard chuckled, but then he said seriously "Well, I may be a Spectre, but I will still need a crew. I don´t want to force anyone so I will ask: Are you certain you want to take part on my mission? If you´re not, just say it now."

The answer was almost unexpectedly pleasant. Kaidan saluted and said "I´ll be honored to serve with you, Commander."

Garrus joined him. "I want to take Saren down as much as you do. Count me in!"

"Do I look like I shy away from this?" Ashley asked sarcastically.

"Opportunity to fight for more than just credits? Too good to turn down!" Wrex roared.

"Well, I already told you my opinion." Tali noted.

Shepard smiled. This was a surprise, but a very welcomed one. "This is…great. Well, I don´t know yet which ship I´ll get stuck on, but once I learn this, I´ll welcome you onboard, all of you." He was going to add something else when his omnitool beeped, signaling an incoming message. Shepard activated a holographic interface and looked at the message, it was from Anderson. He read it quickly and closed the interface.

"Listen up, Anderson wants to meet us in the docking bay 422 in half an hour, probably he has something for us. We´re done in here, so we should move on." Shepard exclaimed. The group hummed in agreement and headed to the exit from the Citadel Tower.

* * *

During the walk to the C-Sec Academy, Shepard and his associates were stopped by a young reporter, Emily Wong, who was investigating corruption on the Citadel. Somehow she knew Commander was in Fist´s club recently, and she asked him if he did not come across some information in his office. Shepard remembered the data disc he found there and he handed it over to her. The reporter was thrilled and gave him a small amount of credits as thanks. Shepard and the others carried on then and soon they arrived to the Academy. The docks were directly accessible from there, so everyone had about 15 minutes to spare. Garrus gave them a tip where they could buy good weaponry and then he left to tell his superiors about his decision to leave with Shepard. The others went to requisition office to do some shopping.

Kaidan got himself Polaris biotic amp and improved shield generator for his armor. Ashley bought a Phoenix-series heavy armor. When Shepard saw the strange combination of white plates and dark-pink bottom layers, he couldn´t help himself smirking. Chief might be a steel-nerved soldier, but her tastes were…unique, to put it mildly. In the end, Shepard purchased a Raptor line assault rifle, the best weapon he could afford.

After 15 minutes, the group reunited by the elevator to the docks. Wrex returned with Armageddon shotgun, one of the most powerful weapons available. Garrus showed up carrying a set of Haliat Armory guns; noticing the looks his colleagues gave him, he grinned from ear to ear, so to speak. When Ashley asked him where he got these weapons from, he just said something about benefits of working in C-Sec. The group squeezed in the elevator and rode to the docks.

"So, Garrus, how did your boss react when you told him you were leaving?" Shepard asked.

"Well, he didn´t expect it. When I told Pallin he needed more than just a few seconds to collect himself. That look on his face was amazing." Garrus replied with satisfaction.

"You and Pallin are not much of friends, right?" Kaidan asked.

"You can say that." Garrus grumbled.

The elevator stopped and the crowd got off. Ahead of them was docked Normandy, safely gripped by anchors. Anderson and Udina stood next to the gang-bridge to ship´s airlock door. Udina looked at Shepard and said "I´ve got some big news for you Shepard. Captain Anderson is stepping down as Normandy´s commanding officer. The ship is yours now." The ambassador noticed Shepard´s accompaniment and added "I see you already found a crew."

"Normandy is quick and quiet and you know the crew. It´s a perfect ship for a Spectre, treat her well, commander." Anderson said.

Shepard did not know what to say. Anderson got him out of the jail, helped him to his Spectre status and now he was handing his ship over to him. Why would he do all of this? Shepard braced himself and asked "I want the truth. Why are you stepping down, sir?"

Anderson replied "You needed your own ship. Spectres don´t answer to anyone but the Council. And it´s time for me to step down."

"I think I deserve you to be honest with me, Captain." Shepard insisted. He had a feeling Anderson was hiding something from him.

Anderson sighed and said "I was in your shoes twenty years ago. They were considering me for the Spectres."

Shepard stared at him in shock. So that drunken jerk Harkin was right after all? He saw by corner of his eyes, as Ashley and Kaidan exchanged confused looks. "Why did you not tell me about this?" he asked neutrally.

"And what was I supposed to say, Shepard? "I could´ve been a Spectre but I blew it"? I failed, commander, and it´s not something I´m proud of." Anderson exclaimed bitterly. "Ask me later and I´ll tell you the whole story. For now, all you need to know is I was sent on a mission with Saren and he made sure the Council rejected me. I had my shot, it came and went. Now you have a chance to make up for my mistakes."

"Saren will pay for everything he has done, you have my word." Shepard answered and motioned his companions to go aboard the ship.

Anderson shook his head. "Saren is gone. Don´t even try to find him. But we do know what he´s after: the Conduit. His Geth are scouring the Traverse, looking for clues."

Udina spoke "We had reports of Geth presence near the colony of Feros before it dropped out of contact. They were also sighted around Noveria."

"Look there and see what the Geth were after. Maybe you´ll figure out where the Conduit is before he does." Anderson added.

Shepard shook his head and said "The Reapers are the real threat."

"I´m with the Council about this one." Udina replied disapprovingly. "I´m not sure if they even exist."

"But if they do exist, the Conduit is the key to bringing them back. Stop Saren from getting the Conduit and we stop the Reapers from returning." Anderson said.

"I´ll stop him." Shepard replied.

"We´ve got one more lead." Udina added. "Matriarch Benezia has a daughter, an archeologist specializing in the protheans. We don´t know if she is involved in all this, but it might be a good idea to find her, to see what she knows. Her name is Liara, Doctor Liara T'Soni. By our latest reports, she was researching large prothean ruins somewhere in Artemis Tau cluster."

"Good," Shepard answered. "I´ll decide our next step."

"That´s up to you. You´re a Spectre now, Shepard; you don´t answer to us." Anderson pointed out.

"But that doesn´t change the fact you´re still a human and your actions will reflect on humanity as a whole." Udina reminded. "If you screw up something, I will get stuck cleaning the mess up."

"I´ll try not to cause much trouble, ambassador." Shepard answered coldly.

Udina nodded, satisfied with the Spectre´s reply. "Glad to hear it, commander. Just remember you were a human long before you were a Spectre. I´ve got a meeting to get to, if you have some questions, ask the Captain." Ambassador spoke and left.

Anderson looked at commander and shook hands with him. "Good luck, commander. We´re counting on you." Shepard nodded in acknowledgement and saluted before he disappeared inside the Normandy.

* * *

This one took quite long to translate; originally, exposing Saren took three chapters, just saying. Thank you for reading this and sorry for my English and yada yada...:-) Next chapter: Terra Nova


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